Signatures of Population III supernovae at Cosmic Dawn: the case of GN-z11-flash

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential to observe Population III supernovae at high redshifts, using the GN-z11-flash transient as evidence, and forecasts the frequency of such events to aid future cosmic dawn studies.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the GN-z11-flash spectrum aligns with a Population III supernova shock-breakout at z~11 and predicts the occurrence rate of similar transients in early galaxies.

Findings

GN-z11-flash is consistent with a Population III supernova at z~11.

Estimated progenitor star mass is around 300 solar masses.

Expected rate of such events is about one per few years in observable volume.

Abstract

We illustrate the observability of the end stages of the earliest (Population III) stars at high redshifts $z \gtrsim 10$, using the recently observed transient, GN-z11-flash as an example. We find that the observed spectrum of this transient is consistent with its originating from a shock-breakout in a Population III supernova occurring in the GN-z11 galaxy at $z \sim 11$. The energetics of the explosion indicate a progenitor star of mass $\sim 300 M_{\odot}$ in that galaxy, with of order unity such events expected over an observing timescale of a few years. We forecast the expected number of such transients from $z > 10$ galaxies as a function of their host stellar mass and star formation rate. Our findings are important in the context of future searches to detect and identify the signatures of galaxies at Cosmic Dawn.