Joining radio with X-rays: A revised model for SN 1993J

TL;DR

This paper presents a revised model for SN 1993J, integrating radio and X-ray data, and challenges previous assumptions about shock cooling and source radius interpretation, emphasizing the role of Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities.

Contribution

It introduces a reinterpretation of the VLBI source radius, linking it to Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities rather than the forward shock, and clarifies magnetic field evolution in adiabatic models.

Findings

Neither synchrotron nor thermal cooling is supported by observations.

VLBI source radius reflects Rayleigh-Taylor instability expansion.

Magnetic field strength scales inversely with supernova radius.

Abstract

A joint analysis is done of the radio and X-ray observations of SN 1993J. It is argued that neither synchrotron cooling behind the forward shock nor thermal cooling behind the reverse shock is supported by observations. In order for adiabatic models to be consistent, a reinterpretation of the radius of the spatially resolved VLBI-source is needed during the first few hundred days. Instead of reflecting the position of the forward shock, it is then associated with the expansion of the Rayleigh-Taylor unstable region emanating from the contact discontinuity. Although observations imply a constant ratio between the energy densities in magnetic fields and relativistic electrons, they do not appear to scale individually with the thermal energy density behind the forward shock; rather, in adiabatic models, the evolution of the magnetic field strength is best understood as scaling inversely with the supernova radius.