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Stellar Death by Weak or Failed Supernovae

Adams, Scott M
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1468850125

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Astronomy.
Core collapse supernovae (SNe) — the violent deaths of massive stars — are among the most luminous events in the Universe and play an important role in galaxy evolution and the production and distribution of the heavy elements necessary for planet formation and life. Despite decades of effort it is still unclear how these SNe explode. While SNe have been identified with close to the maximum theoretically possible energies, the lower bounds on SN energies and luminosities are less well-constrained. There is also no requirement that the core collapse always results in a successful SN explosion. In fact, there are multiple lines of evidence that suggest that 10 - 30% of core collapses might result in failed SNe, forming a black hole without a dramatic external explosion. The primary focus of this dissertation is to explore the lower bounds of the possible explosion energies and luminosities of core-collapse SNe. I discuss three observational strategies to help understand how massive stars die. Due to the development of advanced facilities for the detection of neutrinos and gravitational waves, the next Galactic SN will offer an unprecedented opportunity to study the SN explosion mechanism. To aid preparations for this event, I model the distance, extinction, and magnitude probability distributions for a Galactic SN, its shock breakout radiation, and progenitor. I also analyze the archetypes of two types of SN “impostors” and show that they may be genuine SNe, but with energies lower than previously observed. I present results from an ambitious survey that has been monitoring a million massive stars for 7 years to search for failed SNe. I follow-up the first identified failed SN candidate and find that the massive stellar progenitor appears to have vanished leaving behind a faint, fading IR source that may be due to fallback accretion onto a newly formed black hole. Finally, I set new constraints on the fraction of core collapses that result in failed SNe.
Christopher Kochanek (Advisor)
Krzysztof Stanek (Committee Member)
Todd Thompson (Committee Member)
201 p.
Astronomy; Astrophysics
supernovae; massive stars

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Adams, S. M. (2016). Stellar Death by Weak or Failed Supernovae [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1468850125

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Adams, Scott. Stellar Death by Weak or Failed Supernovae. 2016. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1468850125.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Adams, Scott. "Stellar Death by Weak or Failed Supernovae." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1468850125

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1468850125
286
© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.