Dense Circumstellar Medium around Pulsating Massive Stars Powering Interacting Supernovae

TL;DR

This paper models the evolution of red supergiant stars with pulsation-driven mass loss, showing how dense circumstellar media form shortly before supernova explosions, aligning with observations of recent Type II supernovae.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed, time-dependent mass loss model incorporating pulsation-driven superwinds to predict dense CSM formation prior to supernovae, advancing understanding of pre-explosion stellar environments.

Findings

Dense CSM forms in the last centuries-decades before explosion

Mass loss episodes reach $10^{-4}-10^{-2}~M_\odot~\rm{yr}^{-1}$

Models match observed CSM densities in recent Type II SNe

Abstract

We investigate the evolution of red supergiant (RSG) progenitors of core-collapse (CC) supernovae (SNe) with initial masses between $12-20~M_\odot$ focusing on the effects of enhanced mass loss due to pulsation-driven instabilities in their envelopes and subsequent dynamical ejections during advanced stages of nuclear burning. Using time-dependent mass loss from detailed MESA stellar evolution models, including a parameterized prescription for pulsation-driven superwinds and time-averaged mass loss rates attributed to resulting shock-induced ejections, we construct the circumstellar medium (CSM) before the SN explosion. We calculate resulting CSM density profiles and column densities considering the acceleration of the stellar wind. Our models produce episodes of enhanced mass loss $10^{-4}-10^{-2}~M_\odot~\rm{yr}^{-1}$ in the last centuries-decades before explosion forming dense CSM ($>10^{-15}~\rm{gcm}^{-3}$ at distances $<10^{15}$ cm) -- consistent with those inferred from multi-wavelength observations of Type II SNe such as SN~2023ixf and SN~2020ywx.