Over 500 Days in the Life of the Photosphere of the Type Iax Supernova SN 2014dt

TL;DR

This study presents a detailed 500-day spectral analysis of the Type Iax supernova SN 2014dt, supporting a weak deflagration explosion model with a bound remnant and late-time wind, revealing insights into its physical evolution.

Contribution

First extensive spectral timeseries of SN 2014dt analyzed with a self-consistent deflagration model, linking spectral features to explosion physics and late-time wind behavior.

Findings

Photospheric velocity slows between +64 and +148 days.

SN 2014dt's spectral evolution diverges from normal SN Ia after +90 days.

Late-time wind may weaken past +450 days, indicating radioactive decay.

Abstract

Type Iax supernovae (SN Iax) are the largest known class of peculiar white dwarf supernovae, distinct from normal Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia). The unique properties of SN Iax, especially their strong photospheric lines out to extremely late times, allow us to model their optical spectra and derive physical parameters for the long-lasting photosphere. We present an extensive spectral timeseries, including 21 new spectra, of SN Iax 2014dt from +11 to +562 days after maximum light. We are able to reproduce the entire timeseries with a self-consistent, nearly unaltered deflagration explosion model from Fink et al. (2014) using TARDIS, an open-source radiative transfer code (Kerzendorf & Sim 2014; Kerzendorf et al. 2023). We find that the photospheric velocity of SN 2014dt slows its evolution between +64 and +148 days, which closely overlaps the phase when we see SN 2014dt diverge from the normal spectral evolution of SN Ia (+90 to +150 days). The photospheric velocity at these epochs, ~400$-$1000 km s$^{-1}$, may demarcate a boundary within the ejecta below which the physics of SN Iax and normal SN Ia differ. Our results suggest that SN 2014dt is consistent with a weak deflagration explosion model that leaves behind a bound remnant and drives an optically thick, quasi-steady-state wind creating the photospheric lines at late times. The data also suggest that this wind may weaken at epochs past +450 days, perhaps indicating a radioactive power source that has decayed away.