Magnetar-powered superluminous supernovae must first be exploded by jets

TL;DR

This study suggests that many hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae are likely exploded by jets rather than neutrino-driven mechanisms, emphasizing the importance of jet feedback in supernova models.

Contribution

It provides evidence that jet feedback mechanisms are necessary to explain the explosion energies of certain superluminous supernovae, challenging traditional neutrino-driven models.

Findings

Neutrino-driven explosions cannot account for the energies in about half of the studied SLSNe.

Jets launched at magnetar birth are crucial in the explosion process.

Supports shifting from neutrino-driven to jet-driven supernova models.

Abstract

We analyze recent magnetar light-curve modeling of 38 hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe), and find that the energies of the explosions themselves, that take place before the magnetar energy is released, are more than what the neutrino-driven explosion mechanism can supply for about half of the systems. These SLSNe must have been exploded by a different process than the delayed neutrino mechanism, most likely the jet feedback mechanism (JFM). The conclusion for magnetar modeling of SLSNe is that jets launched at magnetar birth cannot be ignored, not at the explosion itself and not later when mass fall-back might occur. More generally, the present analysis strengthens the call for a paradigm shift from neutrino-driven to jet-driven explosion models of all core collapse supernovae.