Light Curves of Type I Supernovae

BERSTEN MELINA; PAOLO MAZZALI

Handbook of Supernovae

Springer

Año: 2017;

The light curve of Type I supernovae (SNe I), i.e. the explosion of H deficientstars, is mainly powered by radioactive decay. Despite their different physicalorigin, thermonuclear explosions of white dwarfs (SNe Ia) and core-collapse explosionsof massive stars with H-free envelopes (SNe Ib/c) can be understood in thesame framework. The overall morphology of the light curves is similar for all SNeI. The small radius of the progenitor is responsible for the rapid degrading of theshock energy, leading to a fast initial peak that is usually unobserved. Thereafter,the luminosity of the SN and the shape of its light curve are determined by theradioactive energy input (56Ni and 56Co are the primary radioactive isotopes thatpower the light curve), and by the mass of the ejecta and the energy of the explosion.The energy of the explosion sets the expansion velocity which then criticallydetermines the density and opacity of the gas. Physical parameters of the progenitorstar and the explosion itself can be estimated from the shape of the light curve,or derived more accurately by modelling the evolution of the light curve and thespectra simultaneously.