Rapid decline in the lightcurves of luminous supernovae by jet-driven bipolar explosions

TL;DR

This paper models jet-driven bipolar supernova explosions interacting with bipolar circumstellar material, explaining rapid lightcurve declines observed in luminous supernovae like SN 2018don.

Contribution

It introduces 3D hydrodynamical simulations of jet-driven bipolar explosions with a focus on their lightcurve features, linking binary interactions to supernova morphology.

Findings

Jet-driven bipolar explosions produce rapid lightcurve declines.

Interaction with bipolar CSM explains SN 2018don's lightcurve.

Binary evolution influences supernova explosion geometry.

Abstract

We calculate the lightcurves of jet-driven bipolar core collapse supernova (CCSN) explosions into a bipolar circumstellar mater (CSM) and show that an equatorial observer finds the lightcurves to possess a rapid, and even an abrupt, drop. The scenario that might lead to such an explosion morphology is a common envelope evolution (CEE) where shortly before the CCSN explosion the RSG progenitor interacts with a more compact companion that spirals-in and spins-up the core. The companion can be a main sequence star, a neutron star, or a black hole. The binary interaction ejects a shell through an intensive wind and the CEE ejects a denser gas in the equatorial plane. We assume that the companion accretes mass and launches jets. We conduct three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamical simulations where we launch weak jets, the shaping jets, into the dense shell and show that the interaction forms a bipolar CSM. As a result of the rapid pre-collapse core rotation jets drive the CCSN explosion. We simulate the interaction of the jets with the bipolar CSM and use a simple scheme to calculate the lightcurves. We show that the abrupt drop in the lightcurve of an observer not too close to the polar directions can account for the lightcurve of the hydrogen poor luminous supernova (LSN) SN 2018don. Our study strengthens the claim that jet-driven explosions account for many, even most, CCSNe.