Early light curves for Type Ia supernova explosion models (MNRAS paper and MPA research highlight)
Upcoming high-cadence transient survey programs will produce a wealth of observational data for Type Ia supernovae. These data sets will contain numerous events detected very early in their evolution, shortly after explosion. We have calculated synthetic light curves with the radiation hydrodynamical approach STELLA for a number of different explosion models, specifically focussing on these first few days after explosion. Our research has been published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and is highlighted on the webpage of MPA.
With our calculations, we show that overall the early light curve evolution is similar for most of the investigated models. Characteristic imprints are induced by radioactive material located close to the surface. However, these are very similar to the signatures expected from ejecta-CSM or ejecta-companion interaction. Apart from the pure deflagration explosion models, none of our synthetic light curves exhibit the commonly assumed power-law rise. We demonstrate that this can lead to substantial errors in the determination of the time of explosion. In summary, we illustrate with our calculations that even with very early data an identification of specific explosion scenarios is challenging, if only photometric observations are available. The synthetic light curves are publicly available on the Heidelberg Supernova Model Archive (HeSMA).