Synthetic light curves and spectra for three-dimensional delayed-detonation models of type ia supernovae

S. A. Sim*, I. R. Seitenzahl, M. Kromer, F. Ciaraldi-Schoolmann, F. K. Röpke, M. Fink, W. Hillebrandt, R. Pakmor, A. J. Ruiter, S. Taubenberger

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalComment/debatepeer-review

    87 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    In a companion paper, Seitenzahl et al. have presented a set of three-dimensional delayed detonation models for thermonuclear explosions of near-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarfs (WDs). Here,we present multidimensional radiative transfer simulations that provide synthetic light curves and spectra for those models. The model sequence explores both changes in the strength of the deflagration phase (which is controlled by the ignition configuration in our models) and the WD central density. In agreement with previous studies, we find that the strength of the deflagration significantly affects the explosion and the observables. Variations in the central density also have an influence on both brightness and colour, but overall it is a secondary parameter in our set of models. In many respects, the models yield a good match to the observed properties of normal Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia): peak brightness, rise/decline time-scales and synthetic spectra are all in reasonable agreement. There are, however, several differences. In particular, the models are systematically too red around maximum light, manifest spectral line velocities that are a little too high and yield I-band light curves that do not match observations. Although some of these discrepancies may simply relate to approximations made in the modelling, some pose real challenges to the models. If viewed as a complete sequence, our models do not reproduce the observed light-curve width- luminosity relation (WLR) of SNe Ia: all our models show rather similar B-band decline rates, irrespective of peak brightness. This suggests that simple variations in the strength of the deflagration phase in Chandrasekhar-mass deflagration-to-detonation models do not readily explain the observed diversity of normal SNe Ia. This may imply that some other parameter within the Chandrasekhar-mass paradigm is key to the WLR, or that a substantial fraction of normal SNe Ia arise from an alternative explosion scenario

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)333-347
    Number of pages15
    JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
    Volume436
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Nov 2013

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