Excluding supersoft X-ray sources as progenitors for four Type Ia supernovae in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

Type Ia supernovae are vital to our understanding of the Universe due to their use in measuring cosmological distances and their significance in enriching the interstellar medium with heavy elements. They are understood to be the thermonuclear explosions of white dwarfs, but the exact mechanism(s) leading to these explosions remains unclear. The two competing models are the single degenerate scenario, wherein a white dwarf accretes material from a companion star and explodes when it reaches the Chandrasekhar limit, and the double degenerate scenario, wherein the explosion results from a merger of two white dwarfs. Here we report results which rule out hot, luminous progenitors consistent with the single degenerate scenario for four young Type Ia supernova remnants in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Using the integral field spectrograph WiFeS, we have searched these remnants for relic nebulae ionized by the progenitor, which would persist for up to ∼ 10 5 years after the explosion. We detected no such nebula around any of the remnants. By comparing our upper limits with photoionization simulations performed using Cloudy, we have placed stringent upper limits on the luminosities of the progenitors of these supernova remnants. Our results add to the growing evidence disfavouring the single degenerate scenario.

Hydrodynamic simulations of classical novae outbursts and their evolution to supernova Ia explosions

“…This means the progenitor system will be a luminous source of soft X-ray emission (a supersoft X-ray source, SSS, 83) for at least some period of time before the explosion." Similar statements can also be found in (88) and (89). Such emission has not been found and the absence of evidence has been used to eliminate the SD scenario even in the most recent studies.…”

Observational constraints on the origin of the elements

“…There are arguments (e.g. Ruiter et al 2009;Gilfanov & Bogdán 2010;Shappee et al 2013;Goldstein & Kasen 2018;Kuuttila et al 2019;Flörs et al 2019) supporting the idea that a large fraction of SNe Ia follow from a sub-M ch channel. In this context, both double detonation through He-mass transfer (as SD or DD) and violent merger DD channels are considered as viable.…”

The Whisper of a Whimper of a Bang: 2400 Days of the Type Ia SN 2011fe Reveals the Decay of $^{55}$Fe

“…Searches for SD progenitor systems in normal SNe Ia have repeatedly returned null results, including no irregularities in the rising light curves (Hayden et al 2010;Bianco et al 2011;Fausnaugh et al 2021), stringent upper limits on radio (e.g., Panagia et al 2006;Chomiuk et al 2016;Cendes et al 2020;Harris et al 2021) and X-ray (e.g., Margutti et al 2012;Russell & Immler 2012;Margutti et al 2014;Shappee et al 2018;Kilpatrick et al 2018;Sand et al 2021) emission indicating a clean circumstellar environment, non-detections of material stripped from the companion star (Leonard 2007;Graham et al 2017;Maguire et al 2018;Tucker et al 2020), the lack of high-energy radiation (i.e., supersoft X-ray sources) expected for accreting WDs (e.g., Gilfanov & Bogdán 2010;Woods et al 2017Woods et al , 2018Kuuttila et al 2019), and "missing" surviving companion stars (e.g., Edwards et al 2012;Kerzendorf et al 2018;Do et al 2021). Several studies have claimed detections of a SD progenitor system (e.g., Marion et al 2016;Hosseinzadeh et al 2017) but follow-up studies have yet to unambiguously confirm these claims (Maguire et al 2016;Shappee et al 2018;Sand et al 2018;Tucker et al 2019).…”