Models of Millimeter and Radio Emission from Interacting Supernovae

TL;DR

This paper models millimeter and radio emissions from interacting supernovae to assess their detectability and explore how these emissions can reveal progenitor star properties and mass-loss histories.

Contribution

It applies established synchrotron models to supernovae light curves, demonstrating the potential for millimeter observations to probe supernova environments and progenitor characteristics.

Findings

Millimeter observations can detect early peaks in supernova light curves.

Next-generation millimeter surveys could identify nearby extreme supernovae.

Millimeter follow-up is crucial for understanding supernova progenitors.

Abstract

This work utilizes established models of synchrotron-powered light curves for core-collapse supernovae in dense circumstellar environments, namely type IIn and Ibn, to demonstrate the potential for detecting millimeter emission from these events. The progenitor types of these supernovae are still an open question, but using the synchrotron light curves as probes for the circumstellar environments could shed light on the mass-loss histories of the progenitors and discern between different theories. Observations in millimeter bands are particularly fruitful, as they probe regions at smaller radii and higher ambient densities, where centimeter emission tends to be self-absorbed. In our application of these light curves, we explore a diversity of progenitor types and mass-loss profiles to understand their effects on the light curve shapes. Additionally, we fit model parameters to the 8\,GHz light curve of type IIn supernova 2006jd and then create millimeter light curves using these parameters to show the possibility of detecting an early millimeter peak from such an event. We predict that next generation millimeter surveys will possess the capability to detect nearby and extreme events. However, there is a pressing need for millimeter follow-up of optically discovered interacting supernovae to more completely sample the true population.