Testing the magnetar scenario for superluminous supernovae with circular polarimetry

Aleksandar Cikota; Giorgos Leloudas; Mattia Bulla; Cosimo Inserra; Ting Wan Chen; Jason Spyromilio; Ferdinando Patat; Zach Cano; Stefan Cikota; Michael W. Coughlin; Erkki Kankare; Thomas B. Lowe; Justyn R. Maund; Armin Rest; Stephen J. Smartt; Ken W. Smith; Richard J. Wainscoat; David R. Young

doi:10.1093/mnras/sty1891

Testing the magnetar scenario for superluminous supernovae with circular polarimetry

Aleksandar Cikota, Giorgos Leloudas, Mattia Bulla, Cosimo Inserra, Ting Wan Chen, Jason Spyromilio, Ferdinando Patat, Zach Cano, Stefan Cikota, Michael W. Coughlin, Erkki Kankare, Thomas B. Lowe, Justyn R. Maund, Armin Rest, Stephen J. Smartt, Ken W. Smith, Richard J. Wainscoat, David R. Young

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are at least ~5 times more luminous than common supernovae. Especially hydrogen-poor SLSN-I are difficult to explain with conventional powering mechanisms. One possible scenario that might explain such luminosities is that SLSNe-I are powered by an internal engine, such as a magnetar or an accreting black hole. Strong magnetic fields or collimated jets can circularly polarize light. In this work, we measured circular polarization of two SLSNe-I with the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS2) mounted at the ESO's Very Large Telescope. PS17bek, a fast-evolving SLSN-I, was observed around peak, while OGLE16dmu, a slowly evolving SLSN-I, was observed 100 d after maximum. Neither SLSN shows evidence of circularly polarized light; however, these non-detections do not rule out the magnetar scenario as the powering engine for SLSNe-I. We calculate the strength of the magnetic field and the expected circular polarization as a function of distance from the magnetar, which decreases very fast. Additionally, we observed no significant linear polarization for PS17bek at four epochs, suggesting that the photosphere near peak is close to spherical symmetry.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	4984-4990
Number of pages	7
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	479
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty1891
State	Published - Oct 1 2018
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Astronomical Society.

Keywords

PS17bek
Polarization
Supernovae: general
Supernovae: individual: OGLE16dmu

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Cikota, A., Leloudas, G., Bulla, M., Inserra, C., Chen, T. W., Spyromilio, J., Patat, F., Cano, Z., Cikota, S., Coughlin, M. W., Kankare, E., Lowe, T. B., Maund, J. R., Rest, A., Smartt, S. J., Smith, K. W., Wainscoat, R. J., & Young, D. R. (2018). Testing the magnetar scenario for superluminous supernovae with circular polarimetry. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 479(4), 4984-4990. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty1891

Cikota, A, Leloudas, G, Bulla, M, Inserra, C, Chen, TW, Spyromilio, J, Patat, F, Cano, Z, Cikota, S, Coughlin, MW, Kankare, E, Lowe, TB, Maund, JR, Rest, A, Smartt, SJ, Smith, KW, Wainscoat, RJ & Young, DR 2018, 'Testing the magnetar scenario for superluminous supernovae with circular polarimetry', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 479, no. 4, pp. 4984-4990. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty1891

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abstract = "Superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are at least ~5 times more luminous than common supernovae. Especially hydrogen-poor SLSN-I are difficult to explain with conventional powering mechanisms. One possible scenario that might explain such luminosities is that SLSNe-I are powered by an internal engine, such as a magnetar or an accreting black hole. Strong magnetic fields or collimated jets can circularly polarize light. In this work, we measured circular polarization of two SLSNe-I with the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS2) mounted at the ESO's Very Large Telescope. PS17bek, a fast-evolving SLSN-I, was observed around peak, while OGLE16dmu, a slowly evolving SLSN-I, was observed 100 d after maximum. Neither SLSN shows evidence of circularly polarized light; however, these non-detections do not rule out the magnetar scenario as the powering engine for SLSNe-I. We calculate the strength of the magnetic field and the expected circular polarization as a function of distance from the magnetar, which decreases very fast. Additionally, we observed no significant linear polarization for PS17bek at four epochs, suggesting that the photosphere near peak is close to spherical symmetry.",

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author = "Aleksandar Cikota and Giorgos Leloudas and Mattia Bulla and Cosimo Inserra and Chen, {Ting Wan} and Jason Spyromilio and Ferdinando Patat and Zach Cano and Stefan Cikota and Coughlin, {Michael W.} and Erkki Kankare and Lowe, {Thomas B.} and Maund, {Justyn R.} and Armin Rest and Smartt, {Stephen J.} and Smith, {Ken W.} and Wainscoat, {Richard J.} and Young, {David R.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Astronomical Society.",

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AU - Cikota, Aleksandar

AU - Leloudas, Giorgos

AU - Bulla, Mattia

AU - Inserra, Cosimo

AU - Chen, Ting Wan

AU - Spyromilio, Jason

AU - Patat, Ferdinando

AU - Cano, Zach

AU - Cikota, Stefan

AU - Coughlin, Michael W.

AU - Kankare, Erkki

AU - Lowe, Thomas B.

AU - Maund, Justyn R.

AU - Rest, Armin

AU - Smartt, Stephen J.

AU - Smith, Ken W.

AU - Wainscoat, Richard J.

AU - Young, David R.

PY - 2018/10/1

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N2 - Superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are at least ~5 times more luminous than common supernovae. Especially hydrogen-poor SLSN-I are difficult to explain with conventional powering mechanisms. One possible scenario that might explain such luminosities is that SLSNe-I are powered by an internal engine, such as a magnetar or an accreting black hole. Strong magnetic fields or collimated jets can circularly polarize light. In this work, we measured circular polarization of two SLSNe-I with the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS2) mounted at the ESO's Very Large Telescope. PS17bek, a fast-evolving SLSN-I, was observed around peak, while OGLE16dmu, a slowly evolving SLSN-I, was observed 100 d after maximum. Neither SLSN shows evidence of circularly polarized light; however, these non-detections do not rule out the magnetar scenario as the powering engine for SLSNe-I. We calculate the strength of the magnetic field and the expected circular polarization as a function of distance from the magnetar, which decreases very fast. Additionally, we observed no significant linear polarization for PS17bek at four epochs, suggesting that the photosphere near peak is close to spherical symmetry.

AB - Superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are at least ~5 times more luminous than common supernovae. Especially hydrogen-poor SLSN-I are difficult to explain with conventional powering mechanisms. One possible scenario that might explain such luminosities is that SLSNe-I are powered by an internal engine, such as a magnetar or an accreting black hole. Strong magnetic fields or collimated jets can circularly polarize light. In this work, we measured circular polarization of two SLSNe-I with the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS2) mounted at the ESO's Very Large Telescope. PS17bek, a fast-evolving SLSN-I, was observed around peak, while OGLE16dmu, a slowly evolving SLSN-I, was observed 100 d after maximum. Neither SLSN shows evidence of circularly polarized light; however, these non-detections do not rule out the magnetar scenario as the powering engine for SLSNe-I. We calculate the strength of the magnetic field and the expected circular polarization as a function of distance from the magnetar, which decreases very fast. Additionally, we observed no significant linear polarization for PS17bek at four epochs, suggesting that the photosphere near peak is close to spherical symmetry.

KW - PS17bek

KW - Polarization

KW - Supernovae: general

KW - Supernovae: individual: OGLE16dmu

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ER -

Testing the magnetar scenario for superluminous supernovae with circular polarimetry

Abstract

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Keywords

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