# Light curve analysis of ordinary type IIP supernovae based on neutrino-driven explosion simulations in three dimensions

## TL;DR

This study uses 3D neutrino-driven explosion simulations to analyze the light curves of Type IIP supernovae, successfully reproducing key observational features of SN 1999em and revealing asymmetric Ni distribution and turbulent mixing effects.

## Contribution

First 3D neutrino-driven explosion models for Type IIP supernovae that match observed light curves and Ni distribution, providing new insights into explosion asymmetries and mixing processes.

## Key findings

- Ni-56 mass aligns with observations of SN 1999em
- Ni-rich matter distribution shows strong dipole asymmetry
- Turbulent mixing explains the luminosity decline from plateau to tail

## Abstract

Type II-plateau supernovae (SNe IIP) are the most numerous subclass of core-collapse SNe originating from massive stars. In the framework of the neutrino-driven explosion mechanism, we study the SN outburst properties for a red supergiant progenitor model and compare the corresponding light curves with observations of the ordinary Type IIP SN 1999em. Three-dimensional (3D) simulations of (parametrically triggered) neutrino-driven explosions are performed with the (explicit, finite-volume, Eulerian, multifluid hydrodynamics) code PROMETHEUS, using a presupernova model of a 15 Msun star as initial data. At approaching homologous expansion, the hydrodynamical and composition variables of the 3D models are mapped to a spherically symmetric configuration, and the simulations are continued with the (implicit, Lagrangian radiation-hydrodynamics) code CRAB to follow the blast-wave evolution during the SN outburst. Our 3D neutrino-driven explosion model with an explosion energy of about 0.5x10^51 erg produces Ni-56 in rough agreement with the amount deduced from fitting the radioactively powered light-curve tail of SN 1999em. The considered presupernova model, 3D explosion simulations, and light-curve calculations can explain the basic observational features of SN 1999em, except for those connected to the presupernova structure of the outer stellar layers. Our 3D simulations show that the distribution of Ni-rich matter in velocity space is asymmetric with a strong dipole component that is consistent with the observations of SN 1999em. The monotonic luminosity decline from the plateau to the radioactive tail in ordinary SNe IIP is a manifestation of the intense turbulent mixing at the He/H composition interface.