Type-Ia Supernova Rates and the Progenitor Problem: A Review

By D. Maoz, F. Mannucci. Publications Astronomical Society of Australia, 2011

185 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract The identity of the progenitor systems of type-Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) is a major unsolved problem in astrophysics. SN Ia rates are providing some striking clues. We review the basics of SN rate measurement, preach about some sins of SN rate measurement and analysis, and illustrate one of these sins with an analogy about Martian scientists. We review the recent progress in measuring SN Ia rates in various environments and redshifts, and their use to reconstruct the SN Ia delay-time distribution (DTD)—the SN rate versus time that would follow a hypothetical brief burst of star formation. A good number of DTD measurements, using a variety of methods, appear to be converging. At delays 1 <t<10 Gyr, these measurements show a similar, ∼t−1, power-law shape. The DTD peaks at the shortest delays probed. This result supports the idea of a double-degenerate progenitor origin for SNe Ia. Single-degenerate progenitors may still play a role in producing short-delay SNe Ia, or perhaps all SNe Ia, if the red-giant donor channel is more efficient than is found by most theoretical models. The DTD normalization enjoys fairly good agreement (though perhaps some tension), among the various measurements, with a Hubble time–integrated DTD value of about 2 ± 1 SNe Ia per 1000M⊙ (stellar mass formed with a low–mass turnover initial mass function). The local WD binary population suggests that the WD merger rate can explain the Galactic SN Ia rate, but only if sub-Chandra mergers lead to SN Ia events. We point to some future directions that should lead to progress in the field, including measurement of the bivariate (delay and stretch) SN Ia response function.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Instrumentation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7d0caca7e6e732d1ef7bcfe78500e10ed29fb19b

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Citations in the corpus

ON THE SOURCE OF THE DUST EXTINCTION IN TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE AND THE DISCOVERY OF ANOMALOUSLY STRONG Na i ABSORPTION (2013, background): “In recent years, observational evidence favoring both scenarios has been put forward (e.g., see Howell 2011; Maoz & Mannucci 2012; Patat 2013).”
Towards a more realistic population of bright spiral galaxies in cosmological simulations (2013, methodology): “We apply a delay time distribution, which declines with age τ of a stellar population as τ−1, as proposed by Maoz & Mannucci (2012).”
Chemical evolution with rotating massive star yields - I. The solar neighbourhood and the s-process elements (2018, methodology): “For the rate of thermonuclear supernovae (SNIa) we adopt a semi-empirical approach: the observational data of recent surveys concerning the Delayed Time Distribution (DTD) are described well by a power-law in time, of the form ∝ t−1 (e.g. Maoz & Mannucci (2012) and references therein).”
On the Progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae (2018, unknown): “Since, as we shall see, different progenitor scenarios predict (at least in their simplest formulations) different DTDs, an observational determination of the DTD can, in principle at least, support or rule out progenitor scenarios (Maoz & Mannucci 2012).”
Theoretical uncertainties of the Type Ia supernova rate (2014, background): “Maoz & Mannucci (2012) conclude that the number of SNe Ia between 35 Myr and the Hubble time, 13.7 Gyr, is consistent with 2·10−3 M⊙−1.”
TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA RATE MEASUREMENTS TO REDSHIFT 2.5 FROM CANDELS: SEARCHING FOR PROMPT EXPLOSIONS IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE (2014, background): “Multiple lines of evidence now suggest that the overall shape of the SN Ia DTD follows a t−1 power law for times t > 500 Myr (see Maoz & Mannucci 2012, for a recent review).”
The delay-time distribution of Type Ia supernovae from Sloan II (2012, methodology): “The cluster-based SN Ia DTD, as analysed in Maoz, Sharon & Gal-Yam (2010), as well as the one emerging from volumetric SN Ia rates (Graur et al. 2011), also appears to follow the ∼t−1 form generically expected in the DD picture, although some controversies remain (see Maoz & Mannucci 2012).”
A BUDGET AND ACCOUNTING OF METALS AT z ∼ 0: RESULTS FROM THE COS-HALOS SURVEY (2013, background): “Type Ia Supernovae We adopt a t−1 delay time distribution for Type Ia supernovae, where SNR(t)Ia = 4× 10 −13 yr−1 m⋆ ( t 1Gyr )−1 (3) is the rate of Type Ia supernovae produced by a stellar population of mass m⋆ formed at time t = 0 (Maoz & Mannucci 2012).”
Evidence of Environmental Dependencies of Type Ia Supernovae from the Nearby Supernova Factory indicated by Local H$\alpha$ (2013, background): “(See Maoz & Mannucci 2012, for a detailed review.)”
Observational Clues to the Progenitors of Type Ia Supernovae (2013, methodology): “However, in general, the concept of a “typical age” for a host galaxy, interpreted as a SN Ia progenitor age, is a risky zeroeth-order approximation to the full SFH of a galaxy (see Mannucci 2009 and Maoz & Mannucci 2012).”