# Recombination Effects on Supernova Light Curves

## TL;DR

This paper analytically studies how hydrogen recombination in supernova envelopes influences their light curves, especially the temperature evolution and plateau features, clarifying the physical processes behind observed variations.

## Contribution

It provides a detailed analytical model of recombination effects on supernova light curves, highlighting the impact on temperature evolution and challenging the assumption that recombination alone causes the plateau phase.

## Key findings

- Recombination significantly slows the temperature decline after it begins.
- The plateau phase is not solely due to recombination but also depends on progenitor density structure.
- Recombination causes a flattening in the optical light curves, but only mildly affects bolometric luminosity.

## Abstract

The light curves of type-II supernovae (SNe) are believed to be highly affected by recombination of hydrogen that takes place in their envelopes. In this work, we analytically investigate the transition from a fully ionized envelope to a partially recombined one and its effects on the SN light curve. The motivation is to establish the underlying processes that dominate the evolution at late times when recombination takes place in the envelope, yet early enough so that $^{56}$Ni decay is a negligible source of energy. We consider the diffusion of photons through the envelope while analyzing the ionization fraction and the coupling between radiation and gas, and find that the main effect of recombination is on the evolution of the observed temperature. Before recombination the temperature decreases relatively fast, while after recombination starts it significantly reduces the rate at which the observed temperature drops with time. This behaviour is the main cause for the observed flattening in the optical bands, where for a typical red supergiant explosion, the recombination wave affects the bolometric luminosity only mildly during most of the photospheric phase. Moreover, the plateau phase observed in some type-II SNe is not a generic result of recombination, and it also depends on the density structure of the progenitor. This is one possible explanation to the different light curve decay rates observed in type II (P and L) SNe.