The superluminous SN DES13S2cmm as a signature of a Quark-Nova in a He-HMXB system

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the superluminous supernova DES13S2cmm results from a Quark-Nova event in a helium high-mass X-ray binary system, explaining its lightcurve through shock heating and subsequent black hole accretion.

Contribution

It introduces a novel model linking Quark-Nova explosions in He-HMXB systems to superluminous supernovae, providing a detailed explanation for the observed lightcurve.

Findings

Excellent fit to the supernova's lightcurve with reduced chi^2 of 1.09

The model accounts for both early and late-time emission features

Black hole accretion explains the late-time luminosity increase

Abstract

We show that by appealing to a Quark-Nova (the explosive transition of a neutron star to a quark star) occurring in an He-HMXB system we can account for the lightcurve of the first superluminous SN, DES13S2cmm, discovered by the Dark-Energy Survey. The neutron star's explosive conversion is triggered as a result of accretion during the He-HMXB second Common Envelope phase. The dense, relativistic, Quark-Nova ejecta in turn energizes the extended He-rich Common Envelope in an inside-out shock heating process. We find an excellent fit (reduced chi^2 of 1.09) to the bolometric light-curve of SN DES13S2cmm including the late time emission, which we attribute to Black Hole accretion following the conversion of the Quark Star to a Black hole.