Progenitor properties of type II supernovae: fitting to hydrodynamical models using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods

Abstract

Context. The progenitor and explosion properties of type II supernovae (SNe II) are fundamental to understanding the evolution of massive stars. Particular attention has been paid to the initial masses of their progenitors, but despite the efforts made, the range of initial masses is still uncertain. Direct imaging of progenitors in pre-explosion archival images suggests an upper initial mass cutoff of ∼18 M⊙. However, this is in tension with previous studies in which progenitor masses inferred by light-curve modelling tend to favour high-mass solutions. Moreover, it has been argued that light-curve modelling alone cannot provide a unique solution for the progenitor and explosion properties of SNe II. Aims. We develop a robust method which helps us to constrain the physical parameters of SNe II by simultaneously fitting their bolometric light curve and the evolution of the photospheric velocity to hydrodynamical models using statistical inference techniques. Methods. We created pre-supernova red supergiant models using the stellar evolution code MESA, varying the initial progenitor mass. We then processed the explosion of these progenitors through hydrodynamical simulations, where we changed the explosion energy and the synthesised nickel mass together with its spatial distribution within the ejecta. We compared the results to observations using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. Results. We apply this method to a well-studied set of SNe with an observed progenitor in pre-explosion images and compare with results in the literature. Progenitor mass constraints are found to be consistent between our results and those derived by pre-SN imaging and the analysis of late-time spectral modelling. Conclusions. We have developed a robust method to infer progenitor and explosion properties of SN II progenitors which is consistent with other methods in the literature. Our results show that hydrodynamical modelling can be used to accurately constrain the physical properties of SNe II. This study is the starting point for a further analysis of a large sample of hydrogen-rich SNe.

Connecting the Light Curves of Type IIP Supernovae to the Properties of their Progenitors

“…where L * (t (Martinez et al 2020). We implemented several minimization approaches and found that the above method worked best for the current work.…”

A low-energy explosion yields the underluminous Type IIP SN 2020cxd

“…We also compared the semi-analytic fitting results from Jäger et al (2020) to hydrodynamical modelling results from Martinez et al (2020), and found that the estimated ejecta masses are similar. For SN 2005cs, the best-fit ejecta mass with the analytic model is 8.84 M , which is similar to the hydrodynamical result of 8 M .…”

The double-peaked Type Ic supernova 2019cad: another SN 2005bf-like object

“…However, some discrepancies appear around ≈ 25 days where the observations show a slightly higher luminosity than the model. Finally, we note that, although we have not considered the photospheric velocity evolution in the modelling (which could lead to a possible degeneracy in the parameters found, see discussion in Martinez et al 2020 and references therein), the model gives a relatively good representation of the Fe λ5169 velocities as shown in the bottom panel of Figure 8.…”