Broad-band emission properties of central engine powered supernova ejecta interacting with a circumstellar medium

TL;DR

This paper models the broad-band emission from supernova ejecta energized by a central engine, analyzing thermal and non-thermal signals resulting from shock interactions with circumstellar material, and compares predictions with observations of superluminous supernovae.

Contribution

It provides a detailed calculation of thermal and non-thermal emission from central engine powered supernova ejecta interacting with circumstellar medium, incorporating recent hydrodynamic simulation insights.

Findings

Outer ejecta accelerate to mildly relativistic speeds.

Radio and X-ray emission predictions match observed superluminous supernovae.

Upper limits suggest energy mainly converts to thermal radiation.

Abstract

We investigate broad-band emission from supernova ejecta powered by a relativistic wind from a central compact object. A recent two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation studying the dynamical evolution of supernova ejecta with a central energy source has revealed that outermost layers of the ejecta are accelerated to mildly relativistic velocities because of the breakout of a hot bubble driven by the energy injection. The outermost layers decelerate as they sweep a circumstellar medium surrounding the ejecta, leading to the formation of the forward and reverse shocks propagating in the circumstellar medium and the ejecta. While the ejecta continue to release the internal energy as thermal emission from the photosphere, the energy dissipation at the forward and reverse shock fronts gives rise to non-thermal emission. We calculate light curves and spectral energy distributions of thermal and non-thermal emission from central engine powered supernova ejecta embedded in a steady stellar wind with typical mass loss rates for massive stars. The light curves are compared with currently available radio and X-ray observations of hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae, as well as the two well-studied broad-lined Ic supernovae, 1998bw and 2009bb, which exhibit bright radio emission indicating central engine activities. We point out that upper limits on radio luminosities of nearby superluminous supernovae may indicate the injected energy is mainly converted to thermal radiation rather than creating mildly relativistic flows owing to photon diffusion time scales comparable to the injection time scale.