Study of the double-detonation Type Ia supernova scenario, in which a helium-shell detonation triggers a carbon-core detonation in a sub-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf (WD), has experienced a resurgence in the past decade. New evolutionary scenarios and a better understanding of which nuclear reactions are essential have allowed for successful explosions in WDs with much thinner helium shells than in the original, decades-old incarnation of the double-detonation scenario. In this paper, we present the first suite of light curves and spectra from multidimensional radiative transfer calculations of thin-shell double-detonation models, exploring a range of WD and helium-shell masses. We find broad agreement with the observed light curves and spectra of nonpeculiar Type Ia supernovae, from subluminous to overluminous subtypes, providing evidence that double detonations of sub-Chandrasekhar-mass WDs produce the bulk of observed Type Ia supernovae. Some discrepancies in spectral velocities and colors persist, but these may be brought into agreement by future calculations that include more accurate initial conditions and radiation transport physics.

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) span a range of luminosities and timescales, from rapidly evolving subluminous to slowly evolving overluminous subtypes. Previous theoretical work has, for the most part, been unable to match the entire breadth of observed SNe Ia with one progenitor scenario. Here, for the first time, we apply non-local thermodynamic equilibrium radiative transfer calculations to a range of accurate explosion models of sub-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf detonations. The resulting photometry and spectra are in excellent agreement with the range of observed nonpeculiar SNe Ia through 15 days after the time of B-band maximum, yielding one of the first examples of a quantitative match to the entire Phillips relation. The intermediate-mass element velocities inferred from theoretical spectra at maximum light for the more massive white dwarf explosions are higher than those of bright observed SNe Ia, but these and other discrepancies likely stem from the one-dimensional nature of our explosion models and will be improved upon by future non-local thermodynamic equilibrium radiation transport calculations of multidimensional sub-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf detonations.

Despite the importance of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) throughout astronomy, the precise progenitor systems and explosion mechanisms that drive SNe Ia are still unknown. An explosion scenario that has gained traction recently is double detonation, in which an accreted shell of He detonates and triggers a secondary detonation in the underlying white dwarf. Our research presents a number of high-resolution, multidimensional, full-star simulations of thin-He-shell, sub-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf progenitors that undergo a double detonation. This suite of thin-shell progenitors incorporates He shells that are thinner than those in previous multidimensional studies. We confirm the viability of the double detonation across a range of He-shell parameter space, as well as present bulk yields and ejecta profiles for each progenitor. The yields obtained are generally consistent with previous works and indicate the likelihood of producing observables that resemble SNe Ia. The dimensionality of our simulations allow us to examine features of the double detonation more closely, including the details of the off-center secondary ignition and asymmetric ejecta. We find considerable differences in the high-velocity extent of postdetonation products across different lines of sight. The data from this work will be used to generate predicted observables and may further support the viability of the double detonation scenario as an SN Ia channel, as well as show how the properties of the progenitor or viewing angle may influence trends in observable characteristics.