The volumetric rate of superluminous supernovae atz∼ 1

Abstract

We present a measurement of the volumetric rate of superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) at z∼1.0, measured using archival data from the first four years of the Canada-FranceHawaii Telescope Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). We develop a method for the photometric classification of SLSNe to construct our sample. Our sample includes two previously spectroscopically-identified objects, and a further new candidate selected using our classification technique. We use the point-source recovery efficiencies from Perrett et al. (2010) and a Monte Carlo approach to calculate the rate based on our SLSN sample. We find that the three identified SLSNe from SNLS give a rate of 91 +76 −36 SNe Yr −1 Gpc −3 at a volume-weighted redshift of z = 1.13. This is equivalent to 2.2 +1.8 −0.9 × 10 −4 of the volumetric core collapse supernova rate at the same redshift. When combined with other rate measurements from the literature, we show that the rate of SLSNe increases with redshift in a manner consistent with that of the cosmic star formation history. We also estimate the rate of ultra-long gamma ray bursts (ULGRBs) based on the events discovered by the Swift satellite, and show that it is comparable to the rate of SLSNe, providing further evidence of a possible connection between these two classes of events. We also examine the host galaxies of the SLSNe discovered in SNLS, and find them to be consistent with the stellar-mass distribution of other published samples of SLSNe.

Euclid: Superluminous supernovae in the Deep Survey

“…This corresponds to a fraction (∼ 10 −4 ) of the volumetric rate of core-collapse SNe (CC-SNe) at the same redshift (consistent with the previous estimate from Quimby et al 2011). The recent rate measurement of Prajs et al (2017) yr −1 Gpc −3 , at a weighted mean redshift of z = 1.13, thus consistent with Quimby et al (2013). Between the two measurements there is an increase in the volumetric rate as a function of redshift that is a consequence of the observed star formation history.…”

“…Assuming a ratio of 4% between GRB-SN and SN-Ibc (Guetta & Della Valle 2007), and a rate of 2.5 × 10 4 yr −1 Gpc −3 for SN-Ibc (from Asiago and Lick surveys, Cappellaro et al 1999;Li et al 2011 respectively), the expected rate of SLSN-I would be approximately 10 to 100 objects per yr −1 Gpc −3 , which provides an independent estimate consistent with Quimby et al (2013) and Prajs et al (2017).…”

“…Adopting an IMF and SFR at any redshift then allowed a calculation of the volumetric rate of core-collapse supernova, assuming that all stars above 8 M produce a SN (the upper mass limit is not important as long as its 50 M ). We then assumed that the ratio between the SLSN-I and CC-SN rate is 10 −4 (Quimby et al 2013;Prajs et al 2017), which provides a rate per co-moving volume element. We will refer to this rate as the 'optimistic' model.…”

A Statistical Study of Superluminous Supernovae Using the Magnetar Engine Model and Implications for Their Connection with Gamma-Ray Bursts and Hypernovae

“…It has been widely discovered in observations that SLSNe have some similarities and even intrinsic connections with long GRBs and their associated hypernovae (van den Heuvel et al 2013;Lunnan et al 2015;Nicholl et al 2015a;Yu & Li 2016;Inserra et al 2016b;Japelj et al 2016;Prajs et al 2017). In particular, the host galaxies of GRBs and SLSNe I are found to share many common properties (e.g.…”

“…The event rate of SLSNe was estimated to several tens to a hundred times per year per cubic gigaparsecs at redshift z ∼ 1, which increases with redshift in a manner consistent with that of the cosmic star formation history (Prajs et al 2017). As usual, SLSNe can be divided observationally into two classes according to the detection of hydrogen in their spectra, i.e., hydrogenpoor SLSNe I (Quimby et al 2011) and hydrogen-rich SLSNe II (Ofek et al 2007;).…”