Probing Shock Breakout and Progenitors of Stripped-Envelope Supernovae through Their Early Radio Emissions

TL;DR

This study investigates early radio emissions from stripped-envelope supernovae, revealing a subclass with low circumstellar material density that allows for diagnostics of shock breakout and progenitor properties, including velocities and envelope structure.

Contribution

It identifies a radio property-based subclass of stripped-envelope supernovae and links their early radio emission characteristics to progenitor and shock breakout properties.

Findings

A subclass of SNe Ic 2002ap and 2007gr shows rapid radio peaks and low luminosity.

Radio observations suggest low circumstellar density and high shock velocities (~0.3c).

Progenitor envelopes may be inflated, affecting maximum ejecta velocities.

Abstract

We study properties of early radio emission from stripped-envelope supernovae (those of type IIb/Ib/Ic). We suggest there is a sub-class of stripped-envelope supernovae in their radio properties, including optically well-studied type Ic supernovae (SNe Ic) 2002ap and 2007gr, showing a rapid rise to a radio peak within ~ 10 days reaching to a low luminosity (at least an order of magnitude fainter than a majority of SNe IIb/Ib/Ic). They show a decline after the peak shallower than others while the spectral index is similar. We show that all these properties are naturally explained if the circumstellar material (CSM) density is low and therefore the forward shock is expanding into the CSM without deceleration. Since the forward shock velocity in this situation, as estimated from the radio properties, still records the maximum velocity of the SN ejecta following the shock breakout, observing these SNe in radio wavelengths provides new diagnostics on natures of the breakout and progenitor which otherwise requires a quite rapid follow-up in other wavelengths. The inferred post-shock breakout velocities of SNe Ic 2002ap and 2007gr are sub-relativistic, ~0.3c. These are higher than inferred for SN II 1987A, in line with suggested compact progenitors. However, these are lower than expected for a Wolf-Rayet (WR) progenitor. It may reflect a still-unresolved nature of the progenitors just before the explosion, and we suggest that the WR progenitor envelopes might have been inflated which could quickly reduce the maximum ejecta velocity from the initial shock breakout velocity.