Hydrodynamical simulations for the common-envelope wind model for Type Ia supernovae

TL;DR

This study uses hydrodynamical simulations to explore the common-envelope wind model for Type Ia supernovae, revealing that low-mass envelopes are dynamically unstable and can lead to mass ejection, supporting the model's viability.

Contribution

It provides the first hydrodynamical analysis of the common-envelope wind model, clarifying the mass-loss mechanism and timescale, which were previously uncertain.

Findings

Envelopes with mass > 0.003 solar masses are dynamically unstable.

Low-mass envelopes have negligible frictional luminosity impact.

Spiral-in timescale may exceed 100,000 years, allowing white dwarf growth.

Abstract

The single-degenerate (SD) model is one of the leading models for the progenitors of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). Recently, a new version of the SD model, the common-envelope wind (CEW) model, has been proposed, which, in principle, has the potential to resolve most of the difficulties encountered by previous SD models. This model is still being developed and a number of open issues remain, such as the details of the mass-loss mechanism from the surface of the common envelope (CE), the main observational properties, and the spiral-in timescale of the binary inside the envelope. In this article, we aim to address these issues by considering hydrodynamical effects on the CE. Using the stellar evolution code MESA, we carried out a series of 1D hydrodynamical simulations of an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star undergoing a common-envelope phase with different envelope masses (0.0007-0.06 solar mass). We found that the envelopes are always dynamically unstable, leading to regular mass ejection events if the envelope is more massive than the critical value of ~ 0.003 solar mass. The kappa mechanism can naturally explain this phenomenon. We also found that, due to the low mass of the CE, the estimated frictional luminosity caused by the spiral-in of the immersed binary is much less than the nuclear luminosity, and therefore will not affect the structure of the CE significantly. Our results imply that the CE in the CEW model cannot be very massive. We also present a rough estimate for the spiral-in timescale based on a simplified model. We found that, for reasonable assumptions, the timescale may be longer than a few 100,000 yr; therefore, the white dwarf may have enough time to increase its mass toward the Chandrasekhar mass, avoiding a merger with the companion.