The diverse lives of progenitors of hydrogen-rich core-collapse supernovae: the role of binary interaction

Abstract

Hydrogen-rich supernovae, known as Type II (SNe II), are the most common class of explosions observed following the collapse of the core of massive stars. We use analytical estimates and population synthesis simulations to assess the fraction of SNe II progenitors that are expected to have exchanged mass with a companion prior to explosion. We estimate that 1/3 to 1/2 of SN II progenitors have a history of mass exchange with a binary companion before exploding. The dominant binary channels leading to SN II progenitors involve the merger of binary stars. Mergers are expected to produce a diversity of SN II progenitor characteristics, depending on the evolutionary timing and properties of the merger. Alternatively, SN II progenitors from interacting binaries may have accreted mass from their companion, and subsequently been ejected from the binary system after their companion exploded. We show that the overall fraction of SN II progenitors that are predicted to have experienced binary interaction is robust against the main physical uncertainties in our models. However, the relative importance of different binary evolutionary channels is affected by changing physical assumptions. We further discuss ways in which binarity might contribute to the observed diversity of SNe II by considering potential observational signatures arising from each binary channel. For supernovae which have a substantial H-rich envelope at explosion (i.e., excluding Type IIb SNe), a surviving non-compact companion would typically indicate that the supernova progenitor star was in a wide, non-interacting binary. We argue that a significant fraction of even Type II-P SNe are expected to have gained mass from a companion prior to explosion.

The “hidden” companion in LB-1 unveiled by spectral disentangling

“…The orbital mass of the stripped star is then M 1 = 1.5 ± 0.4 M , making it a potential core-collapse supernova progenitor (e.g. Zapartas et al 2019).…”

Effect of binary evolution on the inferred initial and final core masses of hydrogen-rich, Type II supernova progenitors

“…This work investigates the effect of binary interactions on the initial and final core mass distribution of hydrogen-rich Type II supernova progenitors. We expand on Zapartas et al (2019), where we find that around 1/3 to 1/2 of Type II SN progenitors have experienced mass accretion or merged with a companion prior to explosion.…”

“…The possible role of binary interaction in the lives of hydrogen-rich SN II is less explored, but this topic is gaining interest (e.g., Podsiadlowski et al 1992;Podsiadlowski 1992;Tutukov et al 1992;Vanbeveren et al 2013;Justham et al 2014;Menon & Heger 2017;Menon et al 2019;Eldridge et al 2018Eldridge et al , 2019. In a previous study (Zapartas et al 2019, hereafter referred to as Z19), we used population synthesis simulations to investigate the rates of different binary evolutionary channels that can lead toward hydrogen-rich Type II SN progenitors. Our simulations presented in that work suggest that a significant fraction of all SN II progenitors, ∼30-50%, are expected to have interacted with their companion prior to explosion.…”

The Explosion Mechanism of Core-Collapse Supernovae and Its Observational Signatures

“…Type II-P supernovae are useful as theoretical benchmarks, because the progenitor structure should closely match the result of evolution of single stars. This does not mean that binary interactions did not occur in the previous evolution, in fact, a fraction of Type II-P supernovae are possibly the result of stellar mergers or other mass exchanges in binary stars (Zapartas et al, 2019).…”