Browsing by Subject "shock waves"

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Aspherical Core-Collapse Supernovae In Red Supergiants Powered By Nonrelativistic Jets
(2009-05) Couch, Sean M.; Wheeler, J. Craig; Milosavljevic, Milos; Couch, Sean M.; Wheeler, J. Craig; Milosavljevic, Milos
We explore the observational characteristics of jet-driven supernovae (SNe) by simulating bipolar-jet-driven explosions in a red supergiant (RSG) progenitor. We present results of four models in which we hold the injected kinetic energy at a constant 10(51) erg across all jet models but vary the specific characteristics of the jets to explore the influence of the nature of jets on the structure of the SN ejecta. We evolve the explosions past shock-breakout and into quasi-homologous expansion of the SN envelope into a RSG wind. The simulations have sufficient numerical resolution to study the stability of the flow. Our simulations show the development of fluid instabilities that produce pristine helium clumps in the hydrogen envelope. The oppositely directed, nickel-rich jets give a large-scale asymmetry that may account for the nonspherical excitation and substructure of spectral lines such as H alpha and Hc I 10830 angstrom. Jets with a large fraction of kinetic to thermal energy punch through the progenitor envelope and give rise to explosions that would be observed to be asymmetric from the earliest epochs, inconsistent with spectropolarimetric measurements of Type II SNe. Jets with higher thermal energy fractions result in explosions that are roughly spherical at large radii but are significantly elongated at smaller radii, deep inside the ejecta, in agreement with the polarimetric observations. We present shock-breakout light curves that indicate that strongly aspherical shock breakouts are incompatible with recent Galaxy Evolution Explorer observations of shock breakout from RSG stars. Comparison with observations indicates that jets must deposit their kinetic energy efficiently throughout the ejecta while in the hydrogen envelope. Thermal-energy-dominated jets satisfy this criterion and yield many of the observational characteristics of Type II SNe.
Aspherical Supernova Shock Breakout And The Observations Of Supernova 2008D
(2011-02) Couch, Sean M.; Pooley, David; Wheeler, J. Craig; Milosavljevic, Milos; Couch, Sean M.; Wheeler, J. Craig; Milosavljevic, Milos
Shock breakout is the earliest, readily observable emission from a core-collapse supernova (SN) explosion. Observing SN shock breakout may yield information about the nature of the SN shock prior to exiting the progenitor and, in turn, about the core-collapse SN mechanism itself. X-ray outburst 080109, later associated with SN 2008D, is a very well-observed example of shock breakout from a core-collapse SN. Despite excellent observational coverage and detailed modeling, fundamental information about the shock breakout, such as the radius of breakout and driver of the light curve timescale, is still uncertain. The models constructed for explaining the shock breakout emission from SN 2008D all assume spherical symmetry. We present a study of the observational characteristics of aspherical shock breakout from stripped-envelope core-collapse SNe surrounded by a wind. We conduct two-dimensional, jet-driven SN simulations from stripped-envelope progenitors and calculate the resulting shock breakout X-ray spectra and light curves. The X-ray spectra evolve significantly in time as the shocks expand outward and are not fit well by single-temperature and radius blackbodies. The timescale of the X-ray burst light curve of the shock breakout is related to the shock crossing time of the progenitor, and not to the much shorter light crossing time that sets the light curve timescale in spherical breakouts. This could explain the long shock breakout light curve timescale observed for XRO 080109/SN 2008D. We also comment on the distribution of intermediate-mass elements in asymmetric explosions.
Cluster Merger Shock Constraints On Particle Acceleration And Nonthermal Pressure In The Intracluster Medium
(2008-03) Nakar, Ehud; Milosavljevic, Milos; Nagai, Daisuke; Milosavljevic, Milos
X-ray observations of galaxy cluster merger shocks can be used to constrain nonthermal processes in the intracluster medium (ICM). The presence of nonthermal pressure components in the ICM, as well as the shock acceleration of particles and their escape, all affect shock jump conditions in distinct ways. Therefore, these processes can be constrained using X-ray surface brightness and temperature maps of merger shock fronts. Here we use these observations to place constraints on particle acceleration efficiency in intermediate Mach number ( M approximate to 2-3) shocks and explore the potential to constrain the contribution of nonthermal components ( e. g., cosmic rays, magnetic field, and turbulence) to ICM pressure in cluster outskirts. We model the hydrodynamic jump conditions in merger shocks discovered in the galaxy clusters A520 ( M approximate to 2) and 1E 0657-56 ( M approximate to 3) using a multifluid model comprising a thermal plasma, a nonthermal plasma, and a magnetic field. Based on the published X-ray spectroscopic data alone, we find that the fractional contribution of cosmic rays accelerated in these shocks is less than or similar to 10% of the shock downstream pressure. Current observations do not constrain the fractional contribution of nonthermal components to the pressure of the undisturbed shock upstream. Future X-ray observations, however, have the potential to either detect particle acceleration in these shocks through its effect on the shock dynamics, or place a lower limit on the nonthermal pressure contributions in the undisturbed ICM. We briefly discuss implications formodels of particle acceleration in collisionless shocks and the estimates of galaxy cluster masses derived from X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect observations.
The Destruction of the Circumstellar Ring of SN 1987A
(2015-06) Fransson, Claes; Larsson, Josefin; Migotto, Katia; Pesce, Dominic; Challis, Peter; Chevalier, Roger A.; France, Kevin; Kirshner, Robert P.; Leibundgut, Bruno; Lundqvist, Peter; McCray, Richard; Spyromilio, Jason; Taddia, Francesco; Jerkstrand, Anders; Mattila, Seppo; Smith, Nathan; Sollerman, Jesper; Wheeler, J. Craig; Crotts, Arlin; Garnavich, Peter; Heng, Kevin; Lawrence, Stephen S.; Panagia, Nino; Pun, Chun S. J.; Sonneborn, George; Sugerman, Ben; Wheeler, J. Craig
We present imaging and spectroscopic observations with Hubble Space Telescope and Very Large Telescope of the ring of SN 1987A from 1994 to 2014. After an almost exponential increase of the shocked emission from the hotspots up to day similar to 8000 (similar to 2009), both this and the unshocked emission are now fading. From the radial positions of the hotspots we see an acceleration of these up to 500-1000 km s(-1), consistent with the highest spectroscopic shock velocities from the radiative shocks. In the most recent observations (2013 and 2014), we find several new hotspots outside the inner ring, excited by either X-rays from the shocks or by direct shock interaction. All of these observations indicate that the interaction with the supernova ejecta is now gradually dissolving the hotspots. We predict, based on the observed decay, that the inner ring will be destroyed by similar to 2025.
Discovery, Progenitor and Early Evolution of A Stripped Envelope Supernova iPTF13bvn
(2013-09) Cao, Yi; Kasliwal, Mansi M.; Arcavi, Iair; Horesh, Assaf; Hancock, Paul; Valenti, Stefano; Cenko, S. Bradley; Kulkarni, S. R.; Gal-Yam, Avishay; Gorbikov, Evgeny; Ofek, Eran O.; Sand, David; Yaron, Ofer; Graham, Melissa; Silverman, Jeffrey M.; Wheeler, J. Craig; Marion, G. H.; Walker, Emma S.; Mazzali, Paolo; Howell, D. Andrew; Li, K. L.; Kong, A. K. H.; Bloom, Joshua S.; Nugent, Peter E.; Surace, Jason; Masci, Frank; Carpenter, John; Degenaar, Nathalie; Gelino, Christopher R.; Silverman, Jeffrey M.; Wheeler, J. Craig; Marion, G. H.
The intermediate Palomar Transient Factory reports our discovery of a young supernova, iPTF13bvn, in the nearby galaxy, NGC 5806 (22.5 Mpc). Our spectral sequence in the optical and infrared suggests a Type Ib classification. We identify a blue progenitor candidate in deep pre-explosion imaging within a 2 sigma error circle of 80 mas (8.7 pc). The candidate has an M-B luminosity of -5.52 +/- 0.39 mag and a B-I color of 0.25 +/- 0.25 mag. If confirmed by future observations, this would be the first direct detection for a progenitor of a Type Ib. Fitting a power law to the early light curve, we find an extrapolated explosion date around 0.6 days before our first detection. We see no evidence of shock cooling. The pre-explosion detection limits constrain the radius of the progenitor to be smaller than a few solar radii. iPTF13bvn is also detected in centimeter and millimeter wavelengths. Fitting a synchrotron self-absorption model to our radio data, we find a mass-loading parameter of 1.3x10(12) g cm(-1). Assuming a wind velocity of 10(3) km s(-1), we derive a progenitor mass-loss rate of 3 x 10(-5) M-circle dot yr(-1). Our observations, taken as a whole, are consistent with a Wolf-Rayet progenitor of the supernova iPTF13bvn.
HST-COS Observations of Hydrogen, Helium, Carbon, and Nitrogen Emissions From the SN 1987A Reverse Shock
(2011-12) France, Kevin; McCray, Richard; Penton, Steven V.; Kirshner, Robert P.; Challis, Peter; Laming, J. Martin; Bouchet, Patrice; Chevalier, Roger; Garnavich, Peter M.; Fransson, Claes; Heng, Kevin; Larsson, Josefin; Lawrence, Stephen; Lundqvist, Peter; Panagia, Nino; Pun, Chun S. J.; Smith, Nathan; Sollerman, Jesper; Sonneborn, George; Sugerman, Ben; Wheeler, J. Craig; Wheeler, J. Craig
We present the most sensitive ultraviolet observations of Supernova 1987A to date. Imaging spectroscopy from the Hubble Space Telescope-Cosmic Origins Spectrograph shows many narrow (Delta upsilon similar to 300 km s(-1)) emission lines from the circumstellar ring, broad (Delta upsilon similar to 10-20 x 103 km s(-1)) emission lines from the reverse shock, and ultraviolet continuum emission. The high signal-to-noise ratio (>40 per resolution element) broad Ly alpha emission is excited by soft X-ray and EUV heating of mostly neutral gas in the circumstellar ring and outer supernova debris. The ultraviolet continuum at lambda > 1350 angstrom can be explained by H I two-photon (2s (2)S(1/2)-1s (2)S(1/2)) emission from the same region. We confirm our earlier, tentative detection of N V lambda 1240 emission from the reverse shock and present the first detections of broad He II lambda 1640, C IV lambda 1550, and N IV] lambda 1486 emission lines from the reverse shock. The helium abundance in the high-velocity material is He/H = 0.14 +/- 0.06. The N V/H alpha line ratio requires partial ion-electron equilibration (T(e)/T(p) approximate to 0.14-0.35). We find that the N/C abundance ratio in the gas crossing the reverse shock is significantly higher than that in the circumstellar ring, a result that may be attributed to chemical stratification in the outer envelope of the supernova progenitor. The N/C abundance may have been stratified prior to the ring expulsion, or this result may indicate continued CNO processing in the progenitor subsequent to the expulsion of the circumstellar ring.
Two-Stream-Like Instability In Dilute Hot Relativistic Beams And Astrophysical Relativistic Shocks
(2011-09) Nakar, Ehud; Bret, Antoine; Milosavljevic, Milos; Milosavljevic, Milos
Relativistic collisionless shocks are believed to be efficient particle accelerators. Nonlinear outcome of the interaction of accelerated particles that run ahead of the shock, the so-called precursor, with the unperturbed plasma of the shock upstream, is thought to facilitate additional acceleration of these particles and to possibly modify the hydrodynamic structure of the shock. We explore here the linear growth of kinetic modes appearing in the precursor-upstream interaction in relativistic shocks propagating in non- and weakly magnetized plasmas: electrostatic two-stream parallel mode and electrostatic oblique modes. The physics of the parallel and oblique modes is similar, and thus, we refer to the entire spectrum of electrostatic modes as "two-stream-like." These modes are of particular interest because they are the fastest growing modes known in this type of system. Using a simplified distribution function for a dilute ultrarelativistic beam that is relativistically hot in its own rest frame, yet has momenta that are narrowly collimated in the frame of the cold upstream plasma into which it propagates, we identify the fastest growing mode in the full k-space and calculate its growth rate. We consider all types of plasma (pairs and ions-electrons) and beam (charged and charge-neutral). We find that unstable electrostatic modes are present in any type of plasma and for any shock parameters. We further find that two modes, one parallel (k(perpendicular to) = 0) and the other one oblique (k(perpendicular to) similar to k(parallel to)), are competing for dominance and that either one may dominate the growth rate in different regions of the phase space. The dominant mode is determined mostly by the perpendicular spread of the accelerated particle momenta in the upstream frame, which reflects the shock Lorentz factor. The parallel mode becomes more dominant in shocks with lower Lorentz factors (i.e., with larger momentum spreads). We briefly discuss possible implications of our results for external shocks in gamma-ray burst sources.