Modeling the interaction of thermonuclear supernova remnants with circumstellar structures: The case of Tycho's supernova remnant

TL;DR

This study uses hydrodynamical simulations and X-ray modeling to reconcile the observed properties of Tycho's supernova remnant with a scenario where it initially expanded through a dense stellar wind bubble before evolving in a low-density interstellar medium.

Contribution

It introduces a combined hydrodynamical and X-ray emission model to demonstrate that a dense wind bubble scenario better explains Tycho's SNR observations than a uniform ambient medium.

Findings

Uniform ambient density models fail to match both dynamics and X-ray spectra.

Models with a dense wind bubble fit the observed X-ray emission and expansion parameters.

Possible mass loss scenarios include single- and double-degenerate progenitor systems.

Abstract

The well-established Type Ia remnant of Tycho's supernova (SN 1572) reveals discrepant ambient medium density estimates based on either the measured dynamics or on the X-ray emission properties. This discrepancy can potentially be solved by assuming that the supernova remnant (SNR) shock initially moved through a stellar wind bubble, but is currently evolving in the uniform interstellar medium with a relatively low density. We investigate this scenario by combining hydrodynamical simulations of the wind-loss phase and the supernova remnant evolution with a coupled X-ray emission model, which includes non-equilibrium ionization. For the explosion models we use the well-known W7 deflagration model and the delayed detonation model that was previously shown to provide good fits to the X-ray emission of Tycho's SNR. Our simulations confirm that a uniform ambient density cannot simultaneously reproduce the dynamical and X-ray emission properties of Tycho. In contrast, models that considered that the remnant was evolving in a dense, but small, wind bubble reproduce reasonably well both the measured X-ray emission spectrum and the expansion parameter of Tycho's SNR. Finally, we discuss possible mass loss scenarios in the context of single- and double-degenerate models which possible could form such a small dense wind bubble.