On the Brightness of Surviving Companions in Type Ia Supernova Remnants

TL;DR

This paper uses numerical simulations to study the brightness of surviving red-giant companions in type Ia supernova remnants, providing constraints on progenitor models based on detectability.

Contribution

It presents new simulations of stripped and heated red-giant companions, linking their brightness to core mass and supernova effects, to test progenitor scenarios.

Findings

Red-giants with low-mass helium cores can be too faint to detect after supernovae.

Constraints on helium core mass and envelope stripping are derived from observations of SNR 0509-67.5.

Simulations help distinguish between different progenitor models for type Ia supernovae.

Abstract

The progenitor systems for type Ia supernovae are still controversial. One of the methods to test the proposed scenario for the progenitor systems is to identify companions that are supposed to survive according to the so-called single degenerate scenario. These companions might be affected by supernova ejecta. We present several numerical simulations of surviving red-giant companions whose envelopes were stripped and heated. We find that red-giants with less-massive helium cores ($\lesssim0.30\,M_{\odot}$) can be so faint after the supernovae that we cannot detect them. In addition, we apply the results to the case of SNR 0509-67.5, and put constraints on the helium core mass, envelope stripping, and energy injection under the single degenerate scenario for type Ia supernovae.