arXiv.org > astro-ph: sn

Probing the Expansion history of the Universe by Model-Independent Reconstruction from Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts Measurements

Feng, Chao-Jun; Li, Xin-Zhou

To probe the late evolution history of the Universe, we adopt two kinds of optimal basis systems. One of them is constructed by performing the principle component analysis (PCA) and the other is build by taking the multidimensional scaling (MDS) approach. Cosmological observables such as the luminosity distance can be decomposed into these basis systems. These basis are optimized for different kinds of cosmological models that based on different physical assumptions, even for a mixture model of them. Therefore, the so-called feature space that projected from the basis systems is cosmological model independent, and it provide a parameterization for studying and reconstructing the Hubble expansion rate from the supernova luminosity distance and even gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) data with self-calibration. The circular problem when using GRBs as cosmological candles is naturally eliminated in this procedure. By using the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) technique and the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method, we perform an observational constraint on this kind of parameterization. The data we used include the "joint light-curve analysis" (JLA) data set that consists of $740$ Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) as well as $109$ long gamma-ray bursts with the well-known Amati relation.

High-resolution abundance analysis of red giants in the metal-poor bulge globular cluster HP~1

The globular cluster HP~1 is projected at only 3.33 degrees from the Galactic center. Together with its distance, this makes it one of the most central globular clusters in the Milky Way. It has a blue horizontal branch (BHB) and a metallicity of [Fe/H]~-1.0. This means that it probably is one of the oldest objects in the Galaxy. Abundance ratios can reveal the nucleosynthesis pattern of the first stars as well as the early chemical enrichment and early formation of stellar populations. High-resolution spectra obtained for six stars were analyzed to derive the abundances of the light elements C, N, O, Na, and Al, the alpha-elements Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti, and the heavy elements Sr, Y , Zr, Ba, La, and Eu.} High-resolution spectra of six red giants that are confirmed members of the bulge globular cluster HP~1 were obtained with the 8m VLT UT2-Kueyen telescope with the UVES spectrograph in FLAMES-UVES configuration. The spectroscopic parameter derivation was based on the excitation and ionization equilibrium of FeI and FeII. We confirm a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = -1.06~0.10, by adding the two stars that were previously analyzed in HP~1. The alpha-elements O and Mg are enhanced by about +0.3<[O,Mg/Fe]<+0.5 dex, Si is moderately enhanced with +0.15<[Si/Fe]<+0.35dex, while Ca and Ti show lower values of -0.04<[Ca,Ti/Fe]<+0.28dex. The r-element Eu is also enhanced with [Eu/Fe]~+0.4, which together with O and Mg is indicative of early enrichment by type II supernovae. Na and Al are low, but it is unclear if Na-O are anticorrelated. The heavy elements are moderately enhanced, with -0.20<[La/Fe]<+0.43dex and 0.0<[Ba/Fe]<+0.75~dex, which is compatible with r-process formation. The spread in Y, Zr, Ba, and La abundances, on the other hand, appears to be compatible with the spinstar scenario or other additional mechanisms such as the weak r-process.

A Chandra Study of the Interstellar Metallicity in the Large Magellanic Cloud Using Supernova Remnants

Schenck, Andrew; Park, Sangwook; Post, Seth

We report on the results from our measurements of the interstellar medium (ISM) abundances for the elements O, Ne, Mg, Si, and Fe in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We used the archival Chandra data for sixteen supernova remnants (SNRs) in the LMC (0453--68.5, DEM L71, N23, 0519--69.0, N49B, N132D, N49, N206, 0534--69.9, DEM L238, N63A, Honeycomb, N157B, 0540--69.3, DEM L316B, and 0548--70.4). Our results represent LMC abundance measurements based on the modern Chandra data. We place tight constraints on our measured elemental abundances and find lower abundances than previous measurements by Hughes et al. (1998) (by a factor of ~2 on average except for Si) who utilized similar methods based on a smaller sample of ASCA data of SNRs in the LMC. We discuss origins of the discrepancy between our Chandra and the previous ASCA measurements. We also discuss our results in comparisons with the LMC abundance measurements in literatures.

The Carnegie-Chicago Hubble Program. I. A New Approach to the Distance Ladder Using Only Distance Indicators of Population II

We present an overview of the Carnegie-Chicago Hubble Program, an ongoing program to obtain a 3 per cent measurement of the Hubble constant using alternative methods to the traditional Cepheid distance scale. We aim to establish a completely independent route to the Hubble constant using RR Lyrae variables, the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB), and Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). This alternative distance ladder can be applied to galaxies of any Hubble Type, of any inclination, and, utilizing old stars in low density environments, is robust to the degenerate effects of metallicity and interstellar extinction. Given the relatively small number of SNe Ia host galaxies with independently measured distances, these properties provide a great systematic advantage in the measurement of the Hubble constant via the distance ladder. Initially, the accuracy of our value of the Hubble constant will be set by the five Galactic RR Lyrae calibrators with Hubble Space Telescope Fine-Guidance Sensor parallaxes. With Gaia, both the RR Lyrae zero point and TRGB method will be independently calibrated, the former with at least an order of magnitude more calibrators and the latter directly through parallax measurement of tip red giants. As the first end-to-end "distance ladder" completely independent of both Cepheid variables and the Large Magellanic Cloud, this path to the Hubble constant will allow for the high precision comparison at each rung of the traditional distance ladder that is necessary to understand tensions between this and other routes to the Hubble constant.

Progressive Red Shifts in the Late-Time Spectra of Type Ia Supernovae

Black, C. S.; Fesen, R. A.; Parrent, J. T.

We examine the evolution of late-time, optical nebular features of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) using a sample consisting of 160 spectra of 27 normal SNe Ia taken from the literature as well as unpublished spectra of SN 2008Q and ASASSN-14lp. Particular attention was given to nebular features between 4000-6000 A in terms of temporal changes in width and central wavelength. Analysis of the prominent late-time 4700 A feature shows a progressive central wavelength shift from ~4600 A to longer wavelengths out to at least day +300 for our entire sample. We find no evidence for the feature's red-ward shift slowing or halting at an [Fe III] blend centroid of 4701 A as has been proposed. The width of the feature also steadily increases with a FWHM ~170 A at day +100 growing to 200 A or more by day +350. Two weaker adjacent features around 4850 and 5000 A exhibit very similar red shifts to that of the 4700 A feature but show no change in width until very late times. We discuss possible causes for the observed red-ward shifting of these late-time optical features including contribution from [Co II] emission at early nebular epochs and the emergence of additional features at later times. We conclude that the ubiquitous red shift of these common late-time, nebular SN Ia spectral features is not mainly due to a decrease in a blueshift of forbidden Fe lines but the result, in part, of decreasing velocity and/or optical depth of permitted Fe lines.

The White Dwarf Binary Pathways Survey I: A sample of FGK stars with white dwarf companions

The number of white dwarf plus main-sequence star binaries has increased rapidly in the last decade, jumping from only ~30 in 2003 to over 3000. However, in the majority of known systems the companion to the white dwarf is a low mass M dwarf, since these are relatively easy to identify from optical colours and spectra. White dwarfs with more massive FGK type companions have remained elusive due to the large difference in optical brightness between the two stars. In this paper we identify 934 main-sequence FGK stars from the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) survey in the southern hemisphere and the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) survey in the northern hemisphere, that show excess flux at ultraviolet wavelengths which we interpret as the likely presence of a white dwarf companion. We obtained Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet spectra for nine systems which confirmed that the excess is indeed caused, in all cases, by a hot compact companion, eight being white dwarfs and one a hot subdwarf or pre-helium white dwarf, demonstrating that this sample is very clean. We also address the potential of this sample to test binary evolution models and type Ia supernovae formation channels.

Constraining the supersaturation density equation of state from core-collapse supernova simulations - Excluded volume extension of the baryons

Fischer, Tobias

In this article the role of the supersaturation density equation of state (EOS) is explored in simulations of failed core-collapse supernova explosions. Therefore the nuclear EOS is extended via a one-parameter excluded volume description for baryons, taking into account their finite and increasing volume with increasing density in excess of saturation density. Parameters are selected such that the resulting supernova EOS represent extreme cases, with high pressure variations at supersaturation density which feature extreme stiff and soft EOS variants of the reference case, i.e. without excluded volume corrections. Unlike in the interior of neutron stars with central densities in excess of several times saturation density, central densities of core-collapse supernovae reach only slightly above saturation density. Hence, the impact of the supersaturation density EOS on the supernova dynamics as well as the neutrino signal is found to be negligible. It is mainly determined from the low- and intermediate-density domain, which is left unmodified within this generalized excluded volume approach.

Constraints on the Coupling between Dark Energy and Dark Matter from CMB data

Murgia, Riccardo; Gariazzo, Stefano; Fornengo, Nicolao

We investigate a phenomenological non-gravitational coupling between dark energy and dark matter, where the interaction in the dark sector is parameterized as an energy transfer either from dark matter to dark energy or the opposite. The models are constrained by a whole host of updated cosmological data: cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies and polarization, high-redshift supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions and gravitational lensing. Both models are found to be compatible with all cosmological observables, but in the case where dark matter decays into dark energy, the tension with the independent determinations of $H_0$ and $\sigma_8$, already present for standard cosmology, increases: this model in fact predicts lower $H_0$ and higher $\sigma_8$, mostly as a consequence of the higher amount of dark matter at early times, leading to a stronger clustering during the evolution. Instead, when dark matter is fed by dark energy, the reconstructed values of $H_0$ and $\sigma_8$ nicely agree with their local determinations, with a full reconciliation between high- and low-redshift observations. A non-zero coupling between dark energy and dark matter, with an energy flow from the former to the latter, appears therefore to be in better agreement with cosmological data.

IceCube Constraints on Fast-Spinning Pulsars as High-Energy Neutrino Sources

Fang, Ke; Kotera, Kumiko; Murase, Kohta; Olinto, Angela V.

Relativistic winds of fast-spinning pulsars have been proposed as a potential site for cosmic-ray acceleration from very high energies (VHE) to ultrahigh energies (UHE). We re-examine conditions for high-energy neutrino production, considering the interaction of accelerated particles with baryons of the expanding supernova ejecta and the radiation fields in the wind nebula. We make use of the current IceCube sensitivity in diffusive high-energy neutrino background, in order to constrain the parameter space of the most extreme neutron stars as sources of VHE and UHE cosmic rays. We demonstrate that the current non-observation of $10^{18}$ eV neutrinos put stringent constraints on the pulsar scenario. For a given model, birthrates, ejecta mass and acceleration efficiency of the magnetar sources can be constrained. When we assume a proton cosmic ray composition and spherical supernovae ejecta, we find that the IceCube limits almost exclude their significant contribution to the observed UHE cosmic-ray flux. Furthermore, we consider scenarios where a fraction of cosmic rays can escape from jet-like structures piercing the ejecta, without significant interactions. Such scenarios would enable the production of UHE cosmic rays and help remove the tension between their EeV neutrino production and the observational data.

An X-ray and Radio Study of the Varying Expansion Velocities in Tycho's Supernova Remnant

We present newly obtained X-ray and radio observations of Tycho's supernova remnant using {\it Chandra} and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array in 2015 and 2013/14, respectively. When combined with earlier epoch observations by these instruments, we now have time baselines for expansion measurements of the remnant of 12-15 year in the X-rays and 30 year in the radio. The remnant's large angular size allows for proper motion measurements at many locations around the periphery of the blast wave. We find, consistent with earlier measurements, a clear gradient in the expansion velocity of the remnant, despite its round shape. The proper motions on the western and southwestern sides of the remnant are about a factor of two higher than those in the east and northeast. We showed in an earlier work that this is related to an offset of the explosion site from the geometric center of the remnant due to a density gradient in the ISM, and using our refined measurements reported here, we find that this offset is $\sim 23"$ towards the northeast. An explosion center offset in such a circular remnant has implications for searches for progenitor companions in other remnants.

On the nature of Hydrogen-rich Superluminous Supernovae

We present observational data for two hydrogen-rich superluminous supernovae (SLSNe), namely SN 2013hx and PS15br. These objects, together with SN 2008es are the only SLSNe showing a distinct, broad H$\alpha$ feature during the photospheric phase and also do not show any clear sign of interaction between fast moving ejecta and circumstellar shells in their early spectra. Therefore we classify them as SLSN II as distinct from the known class of SLSN IIn. Both transients show a slow decline at later times, and monitoring of SN 2013hx out to 300 days after explosion indicates that the luminosity in this later phase does have a contribution from interaction. We detect strong, multi-component H$\alpha$ emission at 240 days past maximum which we interpret as an indication of interaction of the ejecta with an asymmetric, clumpy circumstellar material. The spectra and photometric evolution of the two objects are similar to some bright type II (or type IIL) supernovae, although they have much higher luminosity and evolve on slower timescales. This comparison is qualitatively similar to how SLSN Ic compare with normal Ic. We applied two semi-analytical codes to fit the light curves of our two objects and SN 2008es. These are based on a diffusion model with energy input from a spinning down magnetar and the interaction between the ejecta and a dense uniform shell of H-rich material. Both scenarios can produce quantitative fits to the light-curves but they both have weaknesses. The overall observational data set would tend to favour the magnetar, or central engine, model as the source of the peak luminosity although the clear signature of interaction shown at 240 days past maximum indicates that interaction can play a role in the luminosity evolution of superluminous type II SNe at some phases.

Detectability of galactic supernova neutrinos coherently scattered on xenon nuclei in XMASS

XMASS Collaboration

The coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) plays a crucial role at the final evolution of stars. The detection of it would be of importance in astroparticle physics. Among all available neutrino sources, galactic supernovae give the highest neutrino flux in the MeV range. Among all liquid xenon dark matter experiments, XMASS has the largest sensitive volume and light yield. The possibility to detect galactic supernova via the CEvNS-process on xenon nuclei in the current XMASS detector was investigated. The total number of events integrated in about 18 seconds after the explosion of a supernova 10~kpc away from the Earth was expected to be from 3.5 to 21.1, depending on the supernova model used to predict the neutrino flux, while the number of background events in the same time window was measured to be negligible. All lead to very high possibility to detect CEvNS experimentally for the first time utilizing the combination of galactic supernovae and the XMASS detector. In case of a supernova explosion as close as Betelgeuse, the total observable events can be more than ten thousand, making it possible to distinguish different supernova models by examining the evolution of neutrino event rate in XMASS.

Supernova Remnants In The Magellanic Clouds

Filipovi?, Miroslav D.; Bozzetto, Luke M.

We present initial results of an ongoing study of the supernova remnants (SNRs) and candidates in the Magellanic Clouds. Some 108 objects in both Clouds are considered to be either an SNR or a reliable candidate. This represents the most complete sample of known SNRs in any galaxy. therefore, this study allows us to study SNR population properties such as the size and spectral index distribution. Here, we also show 12 known Large Magellanic Cloud SNRs from type Ia SN explosions and briefly comment on their importance.

Formation of globular clusters in atomic-cooling halos via rapid gas condensation and fragmentation during the epoch of reionization

Kimm, Taysun; Cen, Renyue; Rosdahl, Joakim; Yi, Sukyoung

We investigate the formation of metal-poor globular clusters (GCs) at the center of two dark matter halos with $M_{\rm halo} \sim4\times10^7 M_\odot$ at $z>10$ using cosmological radiation-hydrodynamics simulations. We find that very compact ($\lesssim$ 1 pc) and massive ($\sim6\times10^5 M_\odot$) clusters form rapidly when pristine gas collapses isothermally with the aid of efficient Ly$\alpha$ emission during the transition from molecular-cooling halos to atomic-cooling halos. Because the local free-fall time of dense star-forming gas is very short ($\ll 1\,{\rm Myr}$), a large fraction of the collapsed gas is turned into stars before stellar feedback processes blow out the gas and shut down star formation. Although the early stage of star formation is limited to a small region of the central star-forming disk, we find that the disk quickly fragments due to metal enrichment from supernovae. Sub-clusters formed in the fragmented clouds eventually merge with the main cluster at the center. The simulated clusters closely resemble the local GCs in mass and size but show a metallicity spread that is much wider than found in the local GCs. We discuss a role of pre-enrichment by Pop III and II stars as a potential solution to the latter issue. Although not without shortcomings, it is encouraging that a naive blind (not tuned) cosmological simulation presents a possible channel for the formation of at least some massive GCs.

Optical Transients Powered by Magnetars: Dynamics, Light Curves, and Transition to the Nebular Phase

Millisecond magnetars can be formed via several channels: core-collapse of massive stars, accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs (WDs), double WD mergers, double neutron star (NS) mergers, and WD-NS mergers. Because the mass of ejecta from these channels could be quite different, their light curves are also expected to be diverse. We evaluate the dynamic evolution of optical transients powered by millisecond magnetars. We find that the magnetar with short spin-down timescale converts its rotational energy mostly into the kinetic energy of the transient, while the energy of a magnetar with long spin-down timescale goes into radiation of the transient. This leads us to speculate that hypernovae could be powered by magnetars with short spin-down timescales. At late times the optical transients will gradually evolve into a nebular phase because of the photospheric recession. We treat the photosphere and nebula separately because their radiation mechanisms are different. In some cases the ejecta could be light enough that the magnetar can accelerate it to a relativistic speed. It is well known that the peak luminosity of a supernova (SN) occurs when the luminosity is equal to the instantaneous energy input rate, as shown by Arnett (1979). We show that photospheric recession and relativistic motion can modify this law. The photospheric recession always leads to a delay of the peak time $t_{\mathrm{pk}}$ relative to the time $t_{\times }$ at which the SN luminosity equals the instantaneous energy input rate. Relativistic motion, however, may change this result significantly.

Supernova feedback in a local vertically stratified medium: interstellar turbulence and galactic winds

We use local Cartesian simulations with a vertical gravitational potential to study how supernova (SN) feedback in stratified galactic discs drives turbulence and launches galactic winds. Our analysis includes three disc models with gas surface densities ranging from Milky Way-like galaxies to gas-rich ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), and two different SN driving schemes (random and correlated with local gas density). In order to isolate the physics of SN feedback, we do not include additional feedback processes. We find that, in these local box calculations, SN feedback excites relatively low mass-weighted gas turbulent velocity dispersions ~3-7 km/s and low wind mass loading factors < 1 in all the cases we study. The low turbulent velocities and wind mass loading factors predicted by our local box calculations are significantly below those suggested by observations of gas-rich and rapidly star-forming galaxies; they are also in tension with global simulations of disc galaxies regulated by stellar feedback. Using a combination of numerical tests and analytic arguments, we argue that local Cartesian boxes cannot predict the properties of galactic winds because they do not capture the correct global geometry and gravitational potential of galaxies. The wind mass loading factors are in fact not well-defined in local simulations because they decline significantly with increasing box height. More physically realistic calculations (e.g., including a global galactic potential and disc rotation) will likely be needed to fully understand disc turbulence and galactic outflows, even for the idealized case of feedback by SNe alone.

Infrared [Fe II] Emission Lines from Radiative Atomic Shocks

Koo, Bon-Chul; Raymond, John C.; Kim, Hyun-Jeong

[Fe II] emission lines are prominent in the infrared (IR), and they are important diagnostic tools for radiative atomic shocks. We investigate the emission characteristics of [Fe II] lines using a shock code developed by Raymond (1979) with updated atomic parameters. We first review general characteristics of IR [Fe II] emission lines from shocked gas, and derive [Fe II] line fluxes as a function of shock speed and ambient density. We have compiled the available IR [Fe II] line observations of interstellar shocks and compare them to the ratios predicted from our model. The sample includes both young and old supernova remnants in the Galaxy and the Large Magellanic Cloud and several Herbig-Haro objects. We find that the observed ratios of IR [Fe II] lines generally fall on our grid of shock models, but the ratios of some mid-infrared lines, e.g., [Fe II] 35.35 um/[Fe II] 25.99 um, [Fe II] 5.340 um/[Fe II] 25.99 um, and [Fe II] 5.340 um/[Fe II] 17.94 um, are significantly offset from our model grid. We discuss possible explanations and conclude that the uncertainty in atomic rates might be the major source of uncertainty, while uncertainties in the shock modeling and the observations certainly exist.

Ultraviolet Diversity of Type Ia Supernovae

Ultraviolet (UV) observations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) probe the outermost layers of the explosion, and UV spectra of SNe Ia are expected to be extremely sensitive to differences in progenitor composition and the details of the explosion. Here we present the first study of a sample of high signal-to-noise ratio SN Ia spectra that extend blueward of 2900 A. We focus on spectra taken within 5 days of maximum brightness. Our sample of ten SNe Ia spans the majority of the parameter space of SN Ia optical diversity. We find that SNe Ia have significantly more diversity in the UV than in the optical, with the spectral variance continuing to increase with decreasing wavelengths until at least 1800 A (the limit of our data). The majority of the UV variance correlates with optical light-curve shape, while there are no obvious and unique correlations between spectral shape and either ejecta velocity or host-galaxy morphology. Using light-curve shape as the primary variable, we create a UV spectral model for SNe Ia at peak brightness. With the model, we can examine how individual SNe vary relative to expectations based on only their light-curve shape. Doing this, we confirm an excess of flux for SN 2011fe at short wavelengths, consistent with its progenitor having a subsolar metallicity. While most other SNe Ia do not show large deviations from the model, ASASSN-14lp has a deficit of flux at short wavelengths, suggesting that its progenitor was relatively metal rich.

LIGO-VIRGO GWs events: blurred or sharp astronomy?

Fargion, Daniele; Oliva, Pietro

The Gravitational Wave (GW) event GW150914 detected by LIGO was very probably a record of a vacuum Black Hole merging system (BH-BH); such kind of events will be mostly mute in gamma region and unobservable or, by best triangulation, widely smeared because of the absence of any spherically-symmetric electromagnetic pointing trace. If the GW150914 event is born inside a globular cluster, a star forming region or along an AGN accretion disk, it might offer optical-X-gamma afterglow via baryon tracks, whom might trace as well their boosted Kepler and Lorentz viscous imprint inside the very same GWs structure, also via peculiar Shapiro phase delay. On the contrary the very rare thin beamed BH jets, related to relic accretion disk around these merging BHs, might shine and blaze most probably not toward us. Only very nearby (tens Mpc) BH-Neutron Star (NS) or NS-NS cannibal merging might be associated to spherical NS explosion and they might therefore be localized by photon tracks in a near future. Because of the much nearer cosmic volumes these kilohertz event are possibly very rare. Within several decades a rare SN-like event may correlate few hours later with a LIGO-GW event. However, in principle a GW-Electromagnetic Wave (EW) by graviton-photon conversion along galactic and solar magnetic fields may occur; their correlated kilohertz radio bangs might be anyway an observable (although weak) radio trace in a Super Low Frequency (SLF) signals, detectable by satellites at far planetary edges, where such radio signals may overcome and survive the solar plasma scattering.

Radioactive Iron Rain: Transporting $^{60}$Fe in Supernova Dust to the Ocean Floor

Fry, Brian J.; Fields, Brian D.; Ellis, John R.

Several searches have found evidence of $^{60}$Fe deposition, presumably from a near-Earth supernova (SN), with concentrations that vary in different locations on Earth. This paper examines various influences on the path of interstellar dust carrying $^{60}$Fe from a SN through the heliosphere, with the aim of estimating the final global distribution on the ocean floor. We study the influences of magnetic fields, angle of arrival, wind and ocean cycling of SN material on the concentrations at different locations. We find that the passage of SN material through the mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT) is the greatest influence on the final global distribution, with ocean cycling causing lesser alteration as the SN material sinks to the ocean floor. SN distance estimates in previous works that assumed a uniform distribution are a good approximation. Including the effects on surface distributions, we estimate a distance of $46^{+10}_{-6}$ pc for a $8-10 \ M_{\odot}$ SN progenitor. This is consistent with a SN occurring within the Tuc-Hor stellar group $\sim$2.8 Myr ago with SN material arriving on Earth $\sim$2.2 Myr ago. We note that the SN dust retains directional information to within $1^{\circ}$ through its arrival in the inner Solar System, so that SN debris deposition on inert bodies such as the Moon will be anisotropic, and thus could in principle be used to infer directional information. In particular, we predict that existing lunar samples should show measurable $^{60}$Fe differences.

Testing the equivalence principle and Lorentz invariance with PeV neutrinos from blazar flares

Wang, Zi-Yi; Liu, Ruo-Yu; Wang, Xiang-Yu

It was recently proposed that a giant flare of the blazar PKS B1424-418 at redshift $z=1.522$ is in association with a PeV-energy neutrino event detected by IceCube. Based on this association we here suggest that the flight time difference between the PeV neutrino and gamma-ray photons from blazar flares can be used to constrain the violations of equivalence principle (EP) and the Lorentz invariance for neutrinos. From the calculated Shapiro delay due to clusters or superclusters in the nearby universe, we find that violation of the equivalence principle for neutrinos and photons is constrained to an accuracy of at least $10^{-5}$, which is two orders of magnitude tighter than the constraint placed by MeV neutrinos from supernova 1987A. Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) arises in various quantum-gravity theories, which predicts an energy-dependent velocity of propagation in vacuum for photons and neutrinos. We find that the association of the PeV neutrino with the gamma-ray outburst set limits on the energy scale of possible LIV to $> 0.01 E_{pl}$ for linear LIV models and $>6\times 10^{-8} E_{pl}$ for quadratic order LIV models, where $E_{pl}$ is the Planck energy scale. These are the most stringent constraints on neutrino LIV for subluminal neutrinos.

Model-independent constraints on modified gravity from current data and from the Euclid and SKA future surveys

Taddei, Laura; Martinelli, Matteo; Amendola, Luca

The aim of this paper is to constrain modified gravity with redshift space distortion observations and supernovae measurements. Compared with a standard LCDM analysis, we include three additional free parameters, namely the initial conditions of the matter perturbations,the overall perturbation normalization, and a scale-dependent Y parameter modifying the Poisson equation, in an attempt to perform a more model-independent analysis. First, we constrain the Poisson parameter Y (also called Geff ) by using currently available fsigma_8 data and the recent SN catalog JLA. We find that the inclusion of the additional free parameters makes the constraints significantly weaker than when fixing them to the standard cosmological value. Second, we constrain Y by using forecast growth-rate data for Euclid and SKA missions. Here again we point out the weakening of the constraints when the additional parameters are included. Finally, we adopt as modified gravity Poisson parameter the specific Horndeski form, and use scale-dependent forecasts to build an exclusion plot for the Yukawa potential akin to the ones realized in laboratory experiments, both for the Euclid and the SKA surveys.

Constraining the Progenitor of the Type Ia Supernova SN 2012cg

Liu, Zheng-Wei; Stancliffe, Richard J.

The nature of the progenitors of SNe Ia is not yet fully understood. In the single-degenerate (SD) scenario, the collision of the SN ejecta with its companion star is expected to produce detectable UV emission in the first few days after the SN explosion within certain viewing angles. It was recently found that the $B-V$ colour of the nearby SN Ia SN 2012cg at about sixteen days before the maximum $B$-band brightness was about 0.2 mag bluer than those of other normal SNe Ia, which was reported as the first evidence for excess blue light from the interaction of normal SN Ia ejecta with its companion star. In this work, we compare current observations for SN 2012cg from its pre-explosion phase to the late-time nebular phase with theoretical predictions from binary evolution and population synthesis calculations for a variety of popular progenitor scenarios. We find that a main-sequence donor or a carbon-oxygen white dwarf donor binary system is more likely to be the progenitor of SN 2012cg. However, both scenarios also predict properties which are in contradiction to the observed features of this system. Taking both theoretical and observational uncertainties into account, we suggest that it might be too early to conclude that SN 2012cg was produced from an explosion of a Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf in the SD scenario. Future observations and improved detailed theoretical modelling are still required to place a more stringent constraint on the progenitor of SN 2012cg.

Helium Stars: Towards an Understanding of Wolf-Rayet Evolution

McClelland, L. A. S.; Eldridge, J. J.

Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are massive stars that have lost most or all of their hydrogen via powerful stellar winds. Recent observations have indicated that hydrogen-free WR stars have cooler temperatures than those predicted by current evolutionary models. To investigate how varying mass-loss rate affects WR evolution, we have created a grid of pure helium star models. We compare our results with Galactic and LMC WR observations and show that the temperature ranges of observed WR stars can be reproduced by varying the mass-loss rate, which effectively determines the size of the helium envelope around the core. We also find that WN and WO stars arise from more massive stars, whereas WC stars come from lower masses. This contradicts the standard Conti scenario by which WN and WC stars evolve in an age sequence. We also predict the magnitudes of our models at core-collapse and compare with observations of nearby progenitors of Type Ib/c supernovae. We confirm the findings of previous studies that suggest WR stars are the progenitors of core-collapse supernovae: the progenitors would remain unobserved except in the cases where the progenitor is a low-mass helium giant, as is the case of iPTF13bvn.

The bolometric light curves and physical parameters of stripped-envelope supernovae

The optical and optical/near-infrared pseudo-bolometric light curves of 85 stripped-envelope supernovae (SNe) are constructed using a consistent method and a standard cosmology. The light curves are analysed to derive temporal characteristics and peak luminosity $L_{\mathrm{p}}$, enabling the construction of a luminosity function. Subsequently, the mass of $^{56}$Ni synthesised in the explosion, along with the ratio of ejecta mass to ejecta kinetic energy, are found. Analysis shows that host-galaxy extinction is an important factor in accurately determining luminosity values as it is significantly greater than Galactic extinction in most cases. It is found that broad-lined SNe~Ic (SNe~Ic-BL) and gamma-ray burst SNe are the most luminous subtypes with a combined median $L_{\mathrm{p}}$, in erg s$^{-1}$, of log($L_{\mathrm{p}})=43.00$ compared to $42.51$ for SNe Ic, $42.50$ for SNe~Ib, and $42.36$ for SNe~IIb. It is also found that SNe~Ic-BL synthesise approximately twice the amount of $^{56}$Ni compared with SNe~Ic, Ib, and IIb, with median $M_{\mathrm{Ni}} = 0.34$, 0.16, 0.14, and 0.11 M$_{\odot}$, respectively. SNe~Ic-BL, and to a lesser extent SNe~Ic, typically rise from $L_{\mathrm{p}}/2$ to $L_{\mathrm{p}}$ more quickly than SNe~Ib/IIb; consequently, their light curves are not as broad.

A millisecond pulsar in an extremely wide binary system

We report on 22 yrs of radio timing observations of the millisecond pulsar J1024$-$0719 by the telescopes participating in the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA). These observations reveal a significant second derivative of the pulsar spin frequency and confirm the discrepancy between the parallax and Shklovskii distances that has been reported earlier. We also present optical astrometry, photometry and spectroscopy of 2MASS J10243869$-$0719190. We find that it is a low-metallicity main-sequence star (K7V spectral type, $\mathrm{[M/H]}=-1.0$, $T_\mathrm{eff}=4050\pm50$ K) and that its position, proper motion and distance are consistent with those of PSR J1024$-$0719. We conclude that PSR J1024$-$0719 and 2MASS J10243869$-$0719190 form a common proper motion pair and are gravitationally bound. The gravitational interaction between the main-sequence star and the pulsar accounts for the spin frequency derivatives, which in turn resolves the distance discrepancy. Our observations suggest that the pulsar and main-sequence star are in an extremely wide ($P_\mathrm{b}>200$ yr) orbit. Combining the radial velocity of the companion and proper motion of the pulsar, we find that the binary system has a high spatial velocity of $384\pm45$ km s$^{-1}$ with respect to the local standard of rest and has a Galactic orbit consistent with halo objects. Since the observed main-sequence companion star cannot have recycled the pulsar to millisecond spin periods, an exotic formation scenario is required. We demonstrate that this extremely wide-orbit binary could have evolved from a triple system that underwent an asymmetric supernova explosion, though find that significant fine-tuning during the explosion is required. Finally, we discuss the implications of the long period orbit on the timing stability of PSR J1024$-$0719 in light of its inclusion in pulsar timing arrays.

The dense gas in the largest molecular complexes of the Antennae: HCN and HCO+ observations of NGC 4038/39 using ALMA

We present observations of the dense molecular gas tracers HCN, HNC, and HCO+ in the J=1-0 transition using ALMA. We supplement our datasets with previous observations of CO J=1-0, which traces the total molecular gas content. We separate the Antennae into 7 bright regions in which we detect emission from all three molecules, including the nuclei of NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, 5 super giant molecular complexes in the overlap region and 2 additional bright clouds. We find that the ratio of L(HCN)/L(CO), which traces the dense molecular gas fraction, is greater in the two nuclei (L(HCN)/L(CO) ~ 0.07 - 0.08) than in the overlap region (L(HCN)/L(CO) <0.05). We attribute this to an increase in pressure due to the stellar potential within the nuclei, similar to what has been seen previously in the Milky Way and nearby spiral galaxies. Furthermore, the ratio of L(HNC)/L(HCN) ~ 0.3-0.4 does not vary by more than a factor of 1.5 between regions. By comparing our measured ratios to PDR models including mechanical heating, we find that the ratio of L(HNC)/L(HCN) is consistent with mechanical heating contributing >= 5% - 10% of the PDR surface heating to the total heating budget. Finally, the ratio of L(HCN)/L(HCO+) varies from ~1 in the nucleus of NGC 4038 down to ~0.5 in the overlap region. The lower ratio in the overlap region may be due to an increase in the cosmic ray rate from the increased supernova rate within this region.

Micro - tidal disruption events by stellar compact objects and the production of ultra-long GRBs

Perets, Hagai B.; Li, Zhuo; Lombardi, James C.; Milcarek, Stephen R.

We explore full/partial tidal disruption events (TDEs) of stars/planets by stellar compact objects (Black holes; BHs; or neutron stars; NSs), which we term micro-TDEs. Disruption of a star/planet with mass $M_{\star}$ may lead to the formation of a debris disk around the BH/NS. Efficient accretion of a fraction $(f_{acc}=0.1$ of the debris may then give rise to bright energetic long ($10^{3}-10^{4}\,s$), X-ray/Gamma-ray flares, with total energies of up to $(f_{acc}/0.1)\times10^{52}\,(M_{\star}/{0.6\,M_{\odot}})\,$ergs, possibly resembling ultra-long GRBs/XRFs. The energy of such flares depends on the poorly constrained accretion processes. Significantly fainter flares might be produced if most of the disk mass is blown away through strong outflows. We suggest three dynamical origins for such disruptions. In the first, a star/planet is tidally disrupted following a close random encounter with a BH/NS in a dense cluster. We estimate the BH (NS) micro-TDE rates from this scenario to be few$\times10^{-6}$ (few$\times10^{-7}$) ${\rm yr}^{-1}$ per Milky-Way galaxy. Another scenario involves the interaction of wide companions due to perturbations by stars in the field, likely producing comparable but lower rates. Finally, a third scenario involves a BH/NS which gain a natal velocity kick at birth, leading to a close encounter with a binary companion and the tidal disruption of that companion. Such events could be associated with a supernova, or even with a preceding GRB/XRF event, and would likely occur hours to days after the prompt explosion; the rates of such events could be larger than those obtained from the other scenarios, depending on the preceding complex binary stellar evolution.

The Galactic sky through H.E.S.S. eyes

Sushch, I.; Collaboration, for the H. E. S. S.

The High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) is an array of five imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. Since 2003 it has been operating in the configuration of four 12 m telescopes complemented in 2012 by a much bigger 28 m telescope in the centre of the array. It is designed to detect very high energy (VHE) gamma-rays in the range of ~20 GeV to ~50 TeV. Over the past decade it performed extremely successful observations of the Galactic plane, which led to the discovery of about 70 sources amongst which the most numerous classes are pulsar wind nebulae, supernova remnants and binary systems. Recently H.E.S.S. also discovered the VHE emission from the Vela pulsar, which became the second pulsar detected at TeV energies after the Crab pulsar. An overview of the main H.E.S.S. discoveries in our Galaxy and their implications on the understanding of physical processes is discussed in this paper.

The microphysics of collisionless shock waves

Collisionless shocks, that is shocks mediated by electromagnetic processes, are customary in space physics and in astrophysics. They are to be found in a great variety of objects and environments: magnetospheric and heliospheric shocks, supernova remnants, pulsar winds and their nebul\ae, active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts and clusters of galaxies shock waves. Collisionless shock microphysics enters at different stages of shock formation, shock dynamics and particle energization and/or acceleration. It turns out that the shock phenomenon is a multi-scale non-linear problem in time and space. It is complexified by the impact due to high-energy cosmic rays in astrophysical environments. This review adresses the physics of shock formation, shock dynamics and particle acceleration based on a close examination of available multi-wavelength or in-situ observations, analytical and numerical developments. A particular emphasize is made on the different instabilities triggered during the shock formation and in association with particle acceleration processes with regards to the properties of the background upstream medium. It appears that among the most important parameters the background magnetic field through the magnetization and its obliquity is the dominant one. The shock velocity that can reach relativistic speeds has also a strong impact over the development of the micro-instabilities and the fate of particle acceleration. Recent developments of laboratory shock experiments has started to bring some new insights in the physics of space plasma and astrophysical shock waves. A special section is dedicated to new laser plasma experiments probing shock physics

The ASAS-SN Bright Supernova Catalog I: 2013-2014

We present basic statistics for all supernovae discovered by the All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN) during its first year-and-a-half of operations, spanning 2013 and 2014. We also present the same information for all other bright ($m_V\leq17$), spectroscopically confirmed supernovae discovered from 2014 May 1 through the end of 2014, providing a comparison to the ASAS-SN sample starting from the point where ASAS-SN became operational in both hemispheres. In addition, we present collected redshifts and near-UV through IR magnitudes, where available, for all host galaxies of the bright supernovae in both samples. This work represents a comprehensive catalog of bright supernovae and their hosts from multiple professional and amateur sources, allowing for population studies that were not previously possible because the all-sky emphasis of ASAS-SN redresses most previously existing biases. In particular, ASAS-SN systematically finds supernovae closer to the centers of host galaxies than either other professional surveys or amateurs, a remarkable result given ASAS-SN's poorer angular resolution. This is the first of a series of yearly papers on bright supernovae and their hosts that will be released by the ASAS-SN team.

First detection of GeV emission from an ultraluminous infrared galaxy: Arp 220 as seen with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

Peng, Fang-Kun; Wang, Xiang-Yu; Liu, Ruo-Yu; Tang, Qing-Wen; Wang, Jun-Feng

Cosmic rays (CRs) in starburst galaxies produce high energy gamma-rays by colliding with the dense interstellar medium (ISM). Arp 220 is the nearest ultra luminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) that has star-formation at extreme levels, so it has long been predicted to emit high-energy gamma-rays. However, no evidence of gamma-ray emission was found despite intense efforts of search. Here we report the discovery of high-energy gamma-ray emission above 200 MeV from Arp 220 at a confidence level of $\sim 6.3 \sigma $ using 7.5 years of \textsl {Fermi} Large Area Telescope observations. The gamma-ray emission shows no significant variability over the observation period and it is consistent with the quasi-linear scaling relation between the gamma-ray luminosity and total infrared luminosity for star-forming galaxies, suggesting that these gamma-rays arise from CR interactions. As the high density medium of Arp 220 makes it an ideal CR calorimeter, the gamma-ray luminosity can be used to measure the efficiency of powering CRs by supernova (SN) remnants given a known supernova rate in Arp 220. We find that this efficiency is about $4.2\pm2.6\%$ for CRs above 1 GeV.

Supernova Feedback in Molecular Clouds: Global Evolution and Dynamics

We use magnetohydrodynamical simulations of converging warm neutral medium flows to analyse the formation and global evolution of magnetised and turbulent molecular clouds subject to supernova feedback from massive stars. We show that supernova feedback alone fails to disrupt entire, gravitationally bound, molecular clouds, but is able to disperse small--sized (~10 pc) regions on timescales of less than 1 Myr. Efficient radiative cooling of the supernova remnant as well as strong compression of the surrounding gas result in non-persistent energy and momentum input from the supernovae. However, if the time between subsequent supernovae is short and they are clustered, large hot bubbles form that disperse larger regions of the parental cloud. On longer timescales, supernova feedback increases the amount of gas with moderate temperatures (T~300-3000 K). Despite its inability to disrupt molecular clouds, supernova feedback leaves a strong imprint on the star formation process. We find an overall reduction of the star formation efficiency by a factor of 2 and of the star formation rate by roughly factors of 2-4.

Black supernovae and black holes in non-local gravity

Bambi, Cosimo; Malafarina, Daniele; Modesto, Leonardo

In a previous paper, we studied the interior solution of a collapsing body in a non-local theory of gravity super-renormalizable at the quantum level. We found that the classical singularity is replaced by a bounce, after which the body starts expanding. A black hole, strictly speaking, never forms. The gravitational collapse does not create an event horizon but only an apparent one for a finite time. In this paper, we solve the equations of motion assuming that the exterior solution is static. With such an assumption, we are able to reconstruct the solution in the whole spacetime, namely in both the exterior and interior regions. Now the gravitational collapse creates an event horizon in a finite comoving time, but the central singularity is approached in an infinite time. We argue that these black holes should be unstable, providing a link between the scenarios with and without black holes. Indeed, we find a non catastrophic ghost-instability of the metric in the exterior region. Interestingly, under certain conditions, the lifetime of our black holes exactly scales as the Hawking evaporation time.

Collision strengths and transition probabilities for Co III forbidden lines

Storey, P. J.; Sochi, Taha

In this paper we compute the collision strengths and their thermally-averaged Maxwellian values for electron transitions between the fifteen lowest levels of doubly-ionised cobalt, Co^{2+}, which give rise to forbidden emission lines in the visible and infrared region of spectrum. The calculations also include transition probabilities and predicted relative line emissivities. The data are particularly useful for analysing the thermodynamic conditions of supernova ejecta.

Sampling the Probability Distribution of Type Ia Supernova Lightcurve Parameters in Cosmological Analysis

Dai, Mi; Wang, Yun

In order to obtain robust cosmological constraints from Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) data, we have applied Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to SN Ia lightcurve fitting. We develop a method for sampling the resultant probability density distributions (pdf) of the SN Ia lightcuve parameters in the MCMC likelihood analysis to constrain cosmological parameters, and validate it using simulated data sets. Applying this method to the Joint Lightcurve Analysis (JLA) data set of SNe Ia, we find that sampling the SN Ia lightcurve parameter pdf's leads to cosmological parameters closer to that of a flat Universe with a cosmological constant, compared to the usual practice of using only the best fit values of the SN Ia lightcurve parameters. Our method will be useful in the use of SN Ia data for precision cosmology.

Against the Wind: Radio Light Curves of Type Ia Supernovae Interacting with Low-Density Circumstellar Shells

Harris, Chelsea E.; Nugent, Peter E.; Kasen, Daniel N.

For decades, a wide variety of observations spanning the radio through optical and on to the x-ray have attempted to uncover signs of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) interacting with a circumstellar medium (CSM). The goal of these studies is to constrain the nature of the hypothesized SN Ia mass-donor companion. A continuous CSM is typically assumed when interpreting observations of interaction. However, while such models have been successfully applied to core-collapse SNe, the assumption of continuity may not be accurate for SNe Ia, as shells of CSM could be formed by pre-supernova eruptions (novae). In this work, we model the interaction of SNe with a spherical, low density, finite-extent CSM and create a suite of synthetic radio synchrotron light curves. We find that CSM shells produce sharply peaked light curves, and identify a fiducial set of models that all obey a common evolution and can be used to generate radio light curves for interaction with an arbitrary shell. The relations obeyed by the fiducial models can be used to deduce CSM properties from radio observations; we demonstrate this by applying them to the non-detections of SN 2011fe and SN 2014J. Finally, we explore a multiple shell CSM configuration and describe its more complicated dynamics and resultant radio light curves.

Radio SNRs in the Magellanic Clouds as probes of shock microphysics

Duran, Rodolfo Barniol; Whitehead, Joseph F.; Giannios, Dimitrios

A large number of radio supernova remnants (SNRs) have been resolved in our Galaxy and nearby ones. These remnants are thought to be produced via synchrotron emission from electrons accelerated by the shock that the supernova ejecta drives into the external medium. Here we consider the sample of radio SNRs in the Magellanic Clouds. Given the size of a radio SNR and its flux, we can constrain $\sim \epsilon_e \epsilon_B \sim 10^{-3}$, which are the fractions of dissipated energy that goes into non-thermal electrons and magnetic field, respectively. These estimates do not depend on the largely uncertain values of the external density and the age of the SNR. We use this theory to develop a Monte Carlo scheme that reproduces the observed distribution of radio fluxes and sizes of the population of radio SNRs in the Magellanic Clouds. This simple model provides a framework that could potentially be applied to other galaxies with complete radio SNRs samples.

Interacting supernovae and supernova impostors. LSQ13zm: an outburst heralds the death of a massive star

We report photometric and spectroscopic observations of the optical transient LSQ13zm. Historical data reveal the presence of an eruptive episode (that we label as `2013a') followed by a much brighter outburst (`2013b') three weeks later, that we argue to be the genuine supernova explosion. This sequence of events closely resemble those observed for SN2010mc and (in 2012) SN2009ip. The absolute magnitude reached by LSQ13zm during 2013a ($M_R=-14.87\pm0.25\,\rm{mag}$) is comparable with those of supernova impostors, while that of the 2013b event ($M_R=-18.46\pm0.21\,\rm{mag}$) is consistent with those of interacting supernovae. Our spectra reveal the presence of a dense and structured circumstellar medium, probably produced through numerous pre-supernova mass-loss events. In addition, we find evidence for high-velocity ejecta, with a fraction of gas expelled at more than 20000\kms. The spectra of LSQ13zm show remarkable similarity with those of well-studied core-collapse supernovae. From the analysis of the available photometric and spectroscopic data, we conclude that we first observed the last event of an eruptive sequence from a massive star, likely a Luminous Blue Variable, which a short time later exploded as a core-collapse supernova. The detailed analysis of archival images suggest that the host galaxy is a star-forming Blue Dwarf Compact Galaxy.

C IV and He II Line Emission of Lyman Alpha Blobs: Powered by Shock Heated Gas

Cabot, Samuel H. C.; Cen, Renyue; Zheng, Zheng

Utilizing {\it ab initio} ultra-high resolution hydrodynamical simulations, we investigate the properties of the interstellar and circum-galactic medium of Ly$\alpha$ Blobs (LABs) at $z=3$, focusing on three important emission lines: Ly$\alpha$ 1216\AA, \heii 1640\AA\ and \civ 1449\AA. Their relative strengths provide a powerful probe of the thermodynamic properties of the gas when confronted with observations. By adjusting the dust attenuation effect using one parameter and matching the observed size-luminosity relation of LABs using another parameter, we show that our simulations can reproduce the observed \civ/\lya\ and \heii/\lya\ ratios adequately. This analysis provides the first successful physical model to account for simultaneously the LAB luminosity function, luminosity-size relation, and the \civ/Ly$\alpha$ and \heii/Ly$\alpha$ ratios, with only two parameters. The physical underpinning for this model is that, in addition to the stellar component for the \lya\ emission, the \lya\ and \civ\ emission lines due to shock heated gas are primarily collisional excitation driven and the \heii\ emission line collisional ionization driven. We find that the density, temperature and metallicity of the gas responsible for each emission line is significantly distinct, in a multi-phase interstellar and circumgalactic medium that is shock-heated primarily by supernovae and secondarily by gravitational accretion of gas.

ISM gas studies towards the TeV PWN HESS J1825-137 and northern region

Voisin, F.; Rowell, G.; Burton, M. G.; Walsh, A.; Fukui, Y.; Aharonian, F.

HESS J1825-137 is a pulsar wind nebula (PWN) whose TeV emission extends across ~1 deg. Its large asymmetric shape indicates that its progenitor supernova interacted with a molecular cloud located in the north of the PWN as detected by previous CO Galactic survey (e.g Lemiere, Terrier & Djannati-Ata\"i 2006). Here we provide a detailed picture of the ISM towards the region north of HESS J1825-137, with the analysis of the dense molecular gas from our 7mm and 12mm Mopra survey and the more diffuse molecular gas from the Nanten CO(1-0) and GRS $^{13}$CO(1-0) surveys. Our focus is the possible association between HESS J1825-137 and the unidentified TeV source to the north, HESS J1826-130. We report several dense molecular regions whose kinematic distance matched the dispersion measured distance of the pulsar. Among them, the dense molecular gas located at (RA, Dec)=(18.421h,-13.282$^{\circ}$) shows enhanced turbulence and we suggest that the velocity structure in this region may be explained by a cloud-cloud collision scenario. Furthermore, the presence of a H$\alpha$ rim may be the first evidence of the progenitor SNR of the pulsar PSR J1826-1334 as the distance between the H$\alpha$ rim and the TeV source matched with the predicted SNR radius R$_{\text{SNR}}$~120 pc. From our ISM study, we identify a few plausible origins of the HESS J1826-130 emission, including the progenitor SNR of PSR J1826-1334 and the PWN G018.5-0.4 powered by PSR J1826-1256. A deeper TeV study however, is required to fully identify the origin of this mysterious TeV source.

Dissipative dark matter and the rotation curves of dwarf galaxies

Foot, R.

There is ample evidence from rotation curves that dark matter halos around disk galaxies have nontrivial dynamics. Of particular significance are: a) the cored dark matter profile of disk galaxies, b) correlations of the shape of rotation curves with baryonic properties, and c) Tully-Fisher relations. Dark matter halos around disk galaxies may have nontrivial dynamics if dark matter is strongly self interacting and dissipative. Multicomponent hidden sector dark matter featuring a massless `dark photon' (from an unbroken dark $U(1)$ gauge interaction) which kinetically mixes with the ordinary photon provides a concrete example of such dark matter. The kinetic mixing interaction facilitates halo heating by enabling ordinary supernovae to be a source of these `dark photons'. Dark matter halos can expand and contract in response to the heating and cooling processes, but for a sufficiently isolated halo could have evolved to a steady state or `equilibrium' configuration where heating and cooling rates locally balance. This dynamics allows the dark matter density profile to be related to the distribution of ordinary supernovae in the disk of a given galaxy. In a previous paper a simple and predictive formula was derived encoding this relation. Here we improve on previous work by modelling the supernovae distribution via the measured UV and $H\alpha$ fluxes, and compare the resulting dark matter halo profiles with the rotation curve data for each dwarf galaxy in the LITTLE THINGS sample. The dissipative dark matter concept is further developed and some conclusions drawn.

Molecular environment, reverberation, and radiation from the pulsar wind nebula in CTA 1

Martín, Jonatan; Torres, Diego F.; Pedaletti, Giovanna

We estimate the molecular mass around CTA 1 using data from Planck and the Harvard CO survey. We observe that the molecular mass in the vicinity of the complex is not enough to explain the TeV emission observed by VERITAS, even under favorable assumptions for the cosmic-ray acceleration properties of the supernova remnant. This supports the idea that the TeV emission comes from the PWN. Here, we model the spectrum of the PWN at possible different stages of its evolution, including both the dynamics of the PWN and the SNR and their interaction via the reverse shock. We have included in the model the energy lost via radiation by particles and the particles escape when computing the pressure produced by the gas. This leads to an evolving energy partition, since for the same instantaneous sharing of the injection of energy provided by the rotational power, the field and the particles are affected differently by radiation and losses. We present the model, and study in detail how the spectrum of a canonical isolated PWN is affected during compression and re-expansion and how this may impact on the CTA 1 case. By exploring the phase-space of parameters that lead to radii in agreement with those observed, we then analyze different situations that might represent the current stage of the CTA 1 PWN, and discuss caveats and requirements of each one.

Constraining $f(T, \mathcal{T})$ gravity models using type Ia supernovae

Saez-Gomez, Diego; Carvalho, C. Sofia; Lobo, Francisco S. N.; Tereno, Ismael

We present an analysis of an $f(T, \mathcal{T})$ extension of the Teleparallel Equivalent of General Relativity that includes non--minimal couplings between torsion and matter. We construct two models that recover the usual continuity equation. We then constrain the parameters of each model by fitting the predicted distance modulus to that measured from type Ia supernovae. We found that both models can reproduce late--time cosmic acceleration without introducing extra complexity. We also observe that one of the models satisfies well the observational constraints and yields a goodness--of--fit similar to the $\Lambda$CDM model, thus demonstrating that $f(T,\mathcal{T})$ gravity theory encompasses viable models that can be an alternative to $\Lambda$CDM.

A burst in a wind bubble and the impact on external matter: high-energy gamma-ray flares and implications for fast radio bursts and pulsar-driven supernovae

Murase, Kohta; Kashiyama, Kazumi; Meszaros, Peter

Tenuous wind bubble, which are formed by spin-down activities of central compact remnants, are relevant in some models of fast radio bursts (FRBs) and super-luminous supernovae. In this work, we study the role of such pair-enriched bubbles produced by young magnetars, rapidly-rotating neutron stars, and magnetized white dwarfs. We calculate the nebular emission and the conditions allowing for escape of high-energy gamma-rays and radio waves, showing that their escape is possible for nebulae with ages of >10-100 yr. In the rapidly-rotating neutron star scenario, we find that radio emission from the quasi-steady nebula itself may be bright enough to be detected especially at submm frequencies, which is relevant as a possible counterpart of pulsar-driven SNe and FRBs. An impulsive burst may lead to a highly relativistic flow, which would interact with the nebula. If the shocked nebula is still relativistic, pre-existing non-thermal particles in the unshocked nebula can be significantly boosted by the forward shock, and short-duration high-energy gamma-ray flares. Possible dissipation at the reverse shock may also lead to efficient particle acceleration and associated gamma-ray emission. The shocked nebula would then be decelerated in the baryonic ejecta, which may lead to broadband afterglow emission with a duration of days to weeks. In the magnetar scenario, this burst-in-bubble model expects that nearby high-energy gamma-ray flares may be detected by the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory and the Cherenkov Telescope Array, and the subsequent radio afterglow emission can be seen by radio telescopes such as the Very Large Array. We discuss several implications specific to FRBs, including constraints on the emission regions and limits on soft gamma-ray counterparts.

Application of Bayesian graphs to SN Ia data analysis and compression

Ma, Cong; Corasaniti, Pier-Stefano; Bassett, Bruce A.

Bayesian graphical models are an efficient tool for modelling complex data and derive self-consistent expressions of the posterior distribution of model parameters. We apply Bayesian graphs to perform statistical analyses of Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) luminosity distance measurements from the Joint Light-curve Analysis (JLA) dataset (Betoule et al. 2014, arXiv:1401.4064). In contrast to the $\chi^2$ approach used in previous studies, the Bayesian inference allows us to fully account for the standard-candle parameter dependence of the data covariance matrix. Comparing with $\chi^2$ analysis results we find a systematic offset of the marginal model parameter bounds. We demonstrate that the bias is statistically significant in the case of the SN Ia standardization parameters with a maximal $6\sigma$ shift of the SN light-curve colour correction. In addition, we find that the evidence for a host galaxy correction is now only $2.4\sigma$. Systematic offsets on the cosmological parameters remain small, but may increase by combining constraints from complementary cosmological probes. The bias of the $\chi^2$ analysis is due to neglecting the parameter-dependent log-determinant of the data covariance, which gives more statistical weight to larger values of the standardization parameters. We find a similar effect on compressed distance modulus data. To this end we implement a fully consistent compression method of the JLA dataset that uses a Gaussian approximation of the posterior distribution for fast generation of compressed data. Overall, the results of our analysis emphasize the need for a fully consistent Bayesian statistical approach in the analysis of future large SN Ia datasets.

Detectability of Cosmic Dark Flow in the Type Ia Supernova Redshift-Distance Relation

Mathews, G. J.; Rose, B.; Garnavich, P.; Yamazaki, D.; Kajino, T.

We re-analyze the detectability of large scale dark flow (or local bulk flow) with respect to the CMB background based upon the redshift-distance relation for Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia). We have made two independent analyses: one based upon identifying the three dimensional Cartesian velocity components; and the other is a new technique based upon the cosine dependence of the deviation from Hubble flow on the sky. We apply these analyses to the Union2.1 SN Ia data set and to a new study of the SDSS-II supernova survey. For both methods, results for low redshift, $z < 0.05$, are consistent with previous searches. We find a local bulk flow of $v_{\rm bf} \sim 300$ km s$^{-1}$ in the direction of $(l,b) \sim (270, 35)^{\circ}$. However, the search for a dark flow velocity at $z>0.05$ is inconclusive. Based upon our analysis of simulated data sets, we deduce that the difficulty in detecting a dark flow at high redshifts arises mostly from the observational error in the distance modulus. Thus, even if it exists, a dark flow is not detectable at large redshift with current SN Ia data sets. We estimate that a detection would require both significant sky coverage of SN Ia out to $z = 0.3$ and a reduction in the effective distance modulus errorf rom 0.2 mag to $\lesssim 0.02$ mag. We estimate that a greatly expanded data sample of $\sim 10^4$ SN Ia might detect a dark flow as small as 300 km s$^{-1}$ out to $z = 0.3$ even with a distance modulus error of $0.2$ mag. This data set size may be achievable in a next generation large survey like LSST.

Scaling laws in chiral hydrodynamic turbulence

Yamamoto, Naoki

We study the turbulent regime of chiral (magneto)hydrodynamics for charged and neutral matter with chirality imbalance. We find that the chiral magnetohydrodynamics for charged plasmas possesses a unique scaling symmetry only without fluid helicity under the local charge neutrality. We also find a different type of unique scaling symmetry in the chiral hydrodynamics for neutral matter with fluid helicity in the inertial range. We show that these symmetries dictate the self-similar inverse cascade of the magnetic and kinetic energies. Our results imply the possible inverse energy cascade in core-collapse supernovae due to the chiral transport of neutrinos.

The Diversity of Type II Supernova vs. The Similarity in Their Progenitors

High-quality collections of Type II supernova (SN) light curves are scarce because they evolve for hundreds of days, making follow-up observations time consuming and often extending over multiple observing seasons. In light of these difficulties, the diversity of SNe II is not fully understood. Here we present ultraviolet and optical photometry of 12 SNe II monitored by the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT) during 2013-2014, and compare them with previously studied SNe having well-sampled light curves. We explore SN II diversity by searching for correlations between the slope of the linear light-curve decay after maximum light (historically used to divide SNe II into IIL and IIP) and other measured physical properties. While SNe IIL are found to be on average more luminous than SNe IIP, SNe IIL do not appear to synthesize more 56Ni than SNe IIP. Finally, optical nebular spectra obtained for several SNe in our sample are found to be consistent with models of red supergiant progenitors in the 12-16 Msun range. Consequently, SNe IIL appear not to account for the deficit of massive red supergiants as SN II progenitors.

The Efficiency of B-Field Amplification at Shocks by Turbulence

Ji, Suoqing; Oh, S. Peng; Ruszkowski, Mateusz; Markevitch, Maxim

Turbulent dynamo field amplification has often been invoked to explain the strong field strengths in thin rims in supernova shocks ($\sim 100 \, \mu$G) and in radio relics in galaxy clusters ($\sim \mu$G). We present high resolution MHD simulations of the interaction between pre-shock turbulence, clumping and shocks, to quantify the conditions under which turbulent dynamo amplification can be significant. We demonstrate numerically converged field amplification which scales with Alfv\'en Mach number, $B/B_0 \propto {\mathcal M}_{\rm A}$, up to ${\mathcal M}_{\rm A} \sim 150$. Amplification is dominated by compression at low ${\mathcal M}_{\rm A}$, and stretching (turbulent amplification) at high ${\mathcal M}_{\rm A}$. For the high Mach numbers characteristic of supernova shocks, the B-field grows exponentially and saturates at equipartition with turbulence, while the vorticity jumps sharply at the shock and subsequently decays; the resulting field is orientated predominately along the shock normal (an effect only apparent in 3D and not 2D). This agrees with the radial field bias seen in supernova remnants. By contrast, for the lower Mach numbers present in clusters, field amplification is mostly compressional, relatively modest, and results in a predominantly perpendicular field. The latter is consistent with the polarization seen in radio relics. Our results are relatively robust to the assumed level of gas clumping. Our results imply that the turbulent dynamo may be important for supernovae, but not for cluster radio relics. For the latter, this implies strong pre-existing B-fields in the ambient cluster outskirts.

Numerical Modeling of the Early Light Curves of Type IIP Supernovae

Morozova, Viktoriya; Piro, Anthony L.; Renzo, Mathieu; Ott, Christian D.

The early rise of Type IIP supernovae (SN IIP) provides important information for constraining the properties of their progenitors. This can in turn be compared to pre-explosion imaging constraints and stellar models to develop a more complete picture of how massive stars evolve and end their lives. Using the SuperNova Explosion Code (SNEC), we model the first 40 days of SNe IIP to better understand what constraints can be derived from their early light curves. We use two sets of red supergiant progenitor models with zero-age main sequence masses in the range between 9 Msol and 20 Msol. We find that the early properties of the light curve depend most sensitively on the radius of the progenitor, and thus provide a relation between the g-band rise time and the radius at the time of explosion. This relation will be useful for deriving constraints on progenitors from future observations, especially in cases where detailed modeling of the entire rise is not practical. When comparing to observed rise times, the radii we find are a factor of a few larger than previous semi-analytic derivations and generally in better agreement with what is found with current stellar evolution calculations.

Feature-tailored spectroscopic analysis of the SNR Puppis A in X-rays

Luna, G. J. M.; Smith, M. J. S.; Dubner, G.; Giacani, E.; Castelletti, G.

We introduce a distinct method to perform spatially-resolved spectral analysis of astronomical sources with highly structured X-ray emission. The method measures the surface brightness of neighbouring pixels to adaptively size and shape each region, thus the spectra from the bright and faint filamentary structures evident in the broadband images can be extracted. As a test case, we present the spectral analysis of the complete X-ray emitting plasma in the supernova remnant Puppis A observed with XMM-Newton and Chandra. Given the angular size of Puppis A, many pointings with different observational configurations have to be combined, presenting a challenge to any method of spatially-resolved spectroscopy. From the fit of a plane-parallel shocked plasma model we find that temperature, absorption column, ionization time scale, emission measure and elemental abundances of O, Ne, Mg, Si, S and Fe, are smoothly distributed in the remnant. Some regions with overabundances of O-Ne-Mg, previously characterized as ejecta material, were automatically selected by our method, proving the excellent response of the technique. This method is an advantageous tool for the exploitation of archival X-ray data.

The role of the diffusive protons in the gamma-ray emission of supernova remnant RX J1713.7$-$3946 --- a two-zone model

Zhang, Xiao; Chen, Yang

RX~J1713.7$-$3946 is a prototype in the $\gamma$-ray-bright supernova remnants (SNRs) and is in continuing debates on its hadronic versus leptonic origin of the $\gamma$-ray emission. We explore the role played by the diffusive relativistic protons that escape from the SNR shock wave in the $\gamma$-ray emission, apart from the high-energy particles' emission from the inside of the SNR. In the scenario that the SNR shock propagates in a clumpy molecular cavity, we consider that the$\gamma$-ray emission from the inside of the SNR may arise either from the inverse Compton scattering or from the interaction between the trapped energetic protons and the shocked clumps. The dominant origin between them depends on the electron-to-proton number ratio. The diffusive protons that escaped from the shock wave during the expansion history can provide an outer hadronic $\gamma$-ray component by bombarding the surrounding dense matter. The broadband spectrum can be well explained by this two-zone model, in which the $\gamma$-ray emission from the inside governs the TeV band, while the outer emission component substantially contributes to the GeV $\gamma$-rays. The two-zone model can also explain the TeV $\gamma$-ray radial brightness profile that significantly stretches beyond the nonthermal X-ray-emitting region. In the calculation, we present a simplified algorithm for Li & Chen's (2010) "accumulative diffusion" model for escaping protons and apply the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to constrain the physical parameters.

Jittering-jets explosion triggered by the standing accretion shock instability

Papish, Oded; Gilkis, Avishai; Soker, Noam

We show that the standing accretion shock instability (SASI) that has been used to ease the shock revival in core collapse supernovae (CCSNe) neutrino-driven explosion models, might play a much more decisive role in supplying the stochastic angular momentum required to trigger an explosion with jittering jets. We find that if the kinetic energy associated with the transverse (non radial) motion of the SASI is larger than about ten percent of the energy associated with the energy of the accreted gas, then the stochastic angular momentum can reach about five percent of the Keplerian specific angular momentum around the newly born neutron star. Such an accretion flow leaves an open conical region along the poles with an average opening angle of about 5 degrees. The outflow from the open polar regions powers an explosion according to the jittering-jets model.

Supernovae and their host galaxies - IV. The distribution of supernovae relative to spiral arms

Using a sample of 215 supernovae (SNe), we analyze their positions relative to the spiral arms of their host galaxies, distinguishing grand-design (GD) spirals from non-GD (NGD) galaxies. We find that: (1) in GD galaxies, an offset exists between the positions of Ia and core-collapse (CC) SNe relative to the peaks of arms, while in NGD galaxies the positions show no such shifts; (2) in GD galaxies, the positions of CC SNe relative to the peaks of arms are correlated with the radial distance from the galaxy nucleus. Inside (outside) the corotation radius, CC SNe are found closer to the inner (outer) edge. No such correlation is observed for SNe in NGD galaxies nor for SNe Ia in either galaxy class; (3) in GD galaxies, SNe Ibc occur closer to the leading edges of the arms than do SNe II, while in NGD galaxies they are more concentrated towards the peaks of arms. In both samples of hosts, the distributions of SNe Ia relative to the arms have broader wings. These observations suggest that shocks in spiral arms of GD galaxies trigger star formation in the leading edges of arms affecting the distributions of CC SNe (known to have short-lived progenitors). The closer locations of SNe Ibc vs. SNe II relative to the leading edges of the arms supports the belief that SNe Ibc have more massive progenitors. SNe Ia having less massive and older progenitors, have more time to drift away from the leading edge of the spiral arms.

Observational constraints and differential diagnosis for cosmic evolutionary models

Wang, Deng; Meng, Xin-He

In this paper, we have proposed a plotting method based on the " natural plotting rule " (NPR) which can be used to distinguish different cosmological scenarios more efficiently and obtain more useful information. By using the NPR, we have avoided the blindness to use different diagnostics when discovering that some scenarios can be hardly differentiated from each other, and develop a logical line to adopt different diagnostics. As a concrete instance, we take this method based on the NPR to distinguish several Cardassian scenarios from the base cosmology scenario, and one from the other. We place constraints on three Cardassian cosmological scenarios and their flat versions by utilizing the Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO), cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, observational Hubble parameter (OHD) data-sets as well as the single data point from the newest event GW150914, and discover that our results are more stringent than previous results for constraining the cosmological parameters of the Cardassian scenarios. We find that the flat original Cardassian (FOC) and original Cardassian (OC) scenarios can only be distinguished in the plane of $\{\Omega_m,S_3^{(1)}\}$ at the present epoch, however, if applying the NPR to plot hierarchically for these Cardassian scenarios in the plane of $\{S_3^{(1)},S_4^{(1)}\}$, we can obtain more detailed information and distinguish the two scenarios better than before. More importantly, from the planes of $\{S_4,S_4^{(2)}\}$, $\{S_5^{(1)},S_5^{(2)}\}$, $\{S_3^{(2)},S_4^{(2)}\}$, $\{\Omega_m,S_3^{(1)}\}$,$\{z,\omega\}$ $\{\epsilon(z),S_3^{(1)}\}$ and $\{z,Om\}$, we dsicover that the flat modified polytropic Cardassian (FMPC) scenario can be directly removed from the possible candidates of dark energy phenomenon, since its evolutional behavior deviates from the base cosmology scenario too much.

Luminous and Variable Stars in M31 and M33. III. The Yellow and Red Supergiants and Post-Red Supergiant Evolution

Gordon, Michael S.; Humphreys, Roberta M.; Jones, Terry J.

Recent supernova and transient surveys have revealed an increasing number of non-terminal stellar eruptions. Though the progenitor class of these eruptions includes the most luminous stars, little is known of the pre-supernova mechanics of massive stars in their most evolved state, thus motivating a census of possible progenitors. From surveys of evolved and unstable luminous star populations in nearby galaxies, we select a sample of yellow and red supergiant candidates in M31 and M33 for review of their spectral characteristics and spectral energy distributions. Since the position of intermediate and late-type supergiants on the color-magnitude diagram can be heavily contaminated by foreground dwarfs, we employ spectral classification and multi-band photometry from optical and near-infrared surveys to confirm membership. Based on spectroscopic evidence for mass loss and the presence of circumstellar dust in their SEDs, we find that $30-40\%$ of the yellow supergiants are likely in a post-red supergiant state. Comparison with evolutionary tracks shows that these mass-losing, post-RSGs have initial masses between $20-40\,M_{\odot}$. More than half of the observed red supergiants in M31 and M33 are producing dusty circumstellar ejecta. We also identify two new warm hypergiants in M31, J004621.05+421308.06 and J004051.59+403303.00, both of which are likely in a post-RSG state.

Star-formation history and X-ray binary populations: the case of the Large Magellanic Cloud

Antoniou, Vallia; Zezas, Andreas

In the present work we investigate the link between high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) and star formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), our nearest star-forming galaxy. Using optical photometric data, we identify the most likely counterpart of 44 X-ray sources. Among the 40 HMXBs classified in this work, we find 33 Be/X-ray binaries, and 4 supergiant XRBs. Using this census and the published spatially resolved star-formation history map of the LMC, we find that the HMXBs (and as expected the X-ray pulsars) are present in regions with star-formation bursts $\sim$6-25 Myr ago, in contrast to the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), for which this population peaks at later ages ($\sim$25-60 Myr ago). We also estimate the HMXB production rate to be equal to 1 system per $\sim23.0_{-4.1}^{+4.4}\times10^{-3}$ Mo/yr, or 1 system per $\sim$143 Mo of stars formed during the associated star-formation episode. Therefore, the formation efficiency of HMXBs in the LMC is $\sim$17 times lower than that in the SMC. We attribute this difference primarily in the different ages and metallicity of the HMXB populations in the two galaxies. We also set limits on the kicks imparted on the neutron star during the supernova explosion. We find that the time elapsed since the supernova kick is $\sim$3 times shorter in the LMC than the SMC. This in combination with the average offsets of the HMXBs from their nearest star clusters results in $\sim$4 times faster transverse velocities for HMXBs in the LMC than in the SMC.

Extinction Laws toward Stellar Sources within a Dusty Circimstellar Medium and Implications for Type Ia Supernovae

Nagao, T.; Maeda, K.; Nozawa, T.

Many astronomical objects are surrounded by dusty environments. In such dusty objects, multiple scattering processes of photons by circumstellar (CS) dust grains can effectively alter extinction properties. In this paper, we systematically investigate effects of multiple scattering on extinction laws for steady-emission sources surrounded by the dusty CS medium, using a radiation transfer simulation based on the Monte Carlo technique. In particular, we focus on whether and how the extinction properties are affected by properties of CS dust grains, adopting various dust grain models. We {\bf confirm} that behaviors of the (effective) extinction laws are highly dependent on the properties of CS grains. Especially, the total-to-selective extinction ratio $R_{V}$, which characterizes the extinction law, can be either increased or decreased, compared to the case without multiple scattering. We find that the criterion for this behavior is given by a ratio of albedos in the $B$ and $V$ bands. We also find that either small silicate grains or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are necessary for realizing a low value of $R_{V}$ as often measured toward Type Ia supernovae, if the multiple scattering by CS dust is responsible for their non-standard extinction laws. Using the derived relations between the properties of dust grains and the resulting effective extinction laws, we propose that the extinction laws toward dusty objects could be used to constrain the properties of dust grains in CS environments.

Gravitational contraction versus Supernova driving and the origin of the velocity dispersion-size relation in molecular clouds

Molecular cloud observations show that clouds have non-thermal velocity dispersions that scale with the cloud size as $\sigma\propto R^{1/2}$ at constant surface density, and for varying surface density scale with both the cloud`s size and surface density, $\sigma^2 \propto R \Sigma$. The energy source driving these chaotic motions remains poorly understood. We describe the velocity dispersions observed in a cloud population formed in a kiloparsec-scale numerical simulation of a magnetized, supernova-driven, self-gravitating, interstellar medium, including diffuse heating and radiative cooling. We compare the relationships between velocity dispersion, size, and surface density measured in the simulated cloud population to those found in observations of Galactic molecular clouds. We find that external supernova explosions can not drive turbulent motions of the observed magnitudes within dense clouds. On the other hand, self-gravity also induces non-thermal motions as gravitationally bound clouds begin to collapse in our model, and by doing so their internal velocity dispersions recover the observed relations. Energy conservation suggests that the observed behavior is consistent with the kinetic energy being proportional to the gravitational energy. However, the clouds in our model show no sign of reaching a stable equilibrium state at any time, even for strongly magnetized clouds. We conclude that gravitationally bound molecular clouds are always in a state of gravitational collapse and their properties are a natural result of this chaotic collapse. In order to agree with observed star formation efficiencies, this process must be terminated by the early destruction of the clouds, presumably from internal stellar feedback.

Self-induced neutrino flavor conversion without flavor mixing

Chakraborty, Sovan; Hansen, Rasmus Sloth; Izaguirre, Ignacio; Raffelt, Georg

Neutrino-neutrino refraction in dense media can cause self-induced flavor conversion triggered by collective run-away modes of the interacting flavor oscillators. The growth rates were usually found to be of order a typical vacuum oscillation frequency $\Delta m^2/2E$. However, even in the simple case of a $\nu_e$ beam interacting with an opposite-moving $\bar\nu_e$ beam, and allowing for spatial inhomogeneities, the growth rate of the fastest-growing Fourier mode is of order $\mu=\sqrt{2} G_{\rm F} n_{\nu}$, a typical $\nu$--$\nu$ interaction energy. This growth rate is much larger than the vacuum oscillation frequency and gives rise to flavor conversion on a much shorter time scale. This phenomenon of "fast flavor conversion" occurs even for vanishing $\Delta m^2/2E$ and thus does not depend on energy, but only on the angle distributions. Moreover, it does not require neutrinos to mix or to have masses, except perhaps for providing seed disturbances. We also construct a simple homogeneous example consisting of intersecting beams and study a schematic supernova model proposed by Ray Sawyer, where $\nu_e$ and $\bar\nu_e$ emerge with different zenith-angle distributions, the key ingredient for fast flavor conversion. What happens in realistic astrophysical scenarios remains to be understood.

Binary Black Hole Mergers from Globular Clusters: Masses, Merger Rates, and the Impact of Stellar Evolution

Rodriguez, Carl L.; Chatterjee, Sourav; Rasio, Frederic A.

The recent discovery of GW150914, the binary black hole merger detected by Advanced LIGO, has the potential to revolutionize observational astrophysics. But to fully utilize this new window into the universe, we must compare these new observations to detailed models of binary black hole formation throughout cosmic time. Expanding upon our previous work (Rodriguez et al., 2015), we study merging binary black holes formed in globular clusters using our Monte Carlo approach to stellar dynamics. We have created a new set of 52 cluster models with different masses, metallicities, and radii to fully characterize the binary black hole merger rate. These models include all the relevant dynamical processes (such as two-body relaxation, strong encounters, and three-body binary formation) and agree well with detailed direct N-body simulations. In addition, we have enhanced our stellar evolution algorithms with updated metallicity-dependent stellar wind and supernova prescriptions, allowing us to compare our results directly to the most recent population synthesis predictions for merger rates from isolated binary evolution. We explore the relationship between a cluster's global properties and the population of binary black holes that it produces. In particular, we derive a numerically calibrated relationship between the merger times of ejected black hole binaries and a cluster's mass and radius. We explore the masses and mass ratios of these binaries as a function of redshift, and find a merger rate of ~5 Gpc$^{-3}$ yr$^{-1}$ in the local universe, with 80% of sources having total masses from $32M_{\odot}$ to $64M_{\odot}$. Under standard assumptions, approximately 1 out of every 7 binary black hole mergers in the local universe will have originated in a globular cluster, but we also explore the sensitivity of this result to different assumptions for binary stellar evolution. [Abridged]

Far-infrared-radio relation in cluster galaxies at intermediate redshift

Randriamampandry, Solohery M.

The radio luminosities at 1.4 GHz is tightly correlated with the far-infrared luminosities for various galaxy types (e.g. [16, 6, 2]) over a wide range of redshift (see e.g. [5, 1, 15, 8, 7]). The relationship is widely believed to be driven by the internal star formation activity. Radio emission from these galaxies are predominantly produced from the synchrotron emission of cosmic-ray electrons accelerated in supernova shocks. The infrared emission is due to ultraviolet light from young massive stars that is absorbed and re-radiated by dust [3]. A correlation is found also in local clusters but cluster galaxies appears to have excess radio emission relative to the amount of far-infrared emission [9, 13, 11]. In this work, we measure the far-infrared-radio relationship in a massive cluster to test how this relationship changes at intermediate z between the field and a high-density cluster environment.

First Results from the La Silla-QUEST Supernova Survey and the Carnegie Supernova Project

The LaSilla/QUEST Variability Survey (LSQ) and the Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP II) are collaborating to discover and obtain photometric light curves for a large sample of low redshift (z < 0.1) Type Ia supernovae. The supernovae are discovered in the LSQ survey using the 1 m ESO Schmidt telescope at the La Silla Observatory with the 10 square degree QUEST camera. The follow-up photometric observations are carried out using the 1 m Swope telescope and the 2.5 m du Pont telescopes at the Las Campanas Observatory. This paper describes the survey, discusses the methods of analyzing the data and presents the light curves for the first 31 Type Ia supernovae obtained in the survey. The SALT 2.4 supernova light curve fitter was used to analyze the photometric data, and the Hubble diagram for this first sample is presented. The measurement errors for these supernovae averaged 4%, and their intrinsic spread was 14%.

Nearby supernova host galaxies from the CALIFA Survey: II. SN environmental metallicity

The metallicity of a supernova (SN) progenitor, together with its mass, is one of the main parameters that rules their outcome. We present a metallicity study of 115 nearby SN host galaxies (0.00510 dex) by targeted searches. We also found no evidence that the metallicity at the SN location differs from the average metallicity at the GCD of the SNe. By extending our SN sample with published metallicities at the SN location, we studied the metallicity distributions for all SN subtypes split into SN discovered in targeted and untargeted searches. We confirm a bias toward higher host masses and metallicities in the targeted searches. Combining data from targeted and untargeted searches we found a sequence from higher to lower local metallicity: SN Ia, Ic, and II show the highest metallicity, which is significantly higher than SN Ib, IIb, and Ic-BL. Our results support the picture of SN Ib resulting from binary progenitors and, at least part of, SN Ic being the result of single massive stars stripped of their outer layers by metallicity driven winds. We studied several proxies of the local metallicity frequently used in the literature and found that the total host metallicity allows for the estimation of the metallicity at the SN location with an accuracy better than 0.08 dex and very small bias. In addition, weak AGNs not seen in total spectra may only weakly bias (by 0.04 dex) the metallicity estimate from integrated spectra. (abridged)

Chiral transport of neutrinos in supernovae: Neutrino-induced fluid helicity and helical plasma instability

Yamamoto, Naoki

Chirality of neutrinos modifies the conventional kinetic theory and hydrodynamics, leading to unusual chiral transport related to quantum anomalies in field theory. We argue that these corrections have new phenomenological consequences for hot and dense neutrino gases, especially in core-collapse supernovae. We find that the neutrino density can be converted to the fluid helicity through the chiral vortical effect. This fluid helicity effectively acts as a chiral chemical potential for electrons via the momentum exchange with neutrinos and induces a "helical plasma instability" that generates a strong helical magnetic field. This provides a new mechanism for converting the gravitational energy released by the core collapse to the electromagnetic energy and potentially explains the origin of magnetars. The other possible applications of the neutrino chiral transport theory are also discussed.

Acceleration of petaelectronvolt protons in the Galactic Centre

Galactic cosmic rays reach energies of at least a few Peta-electronvolts (1 PeV =$10^\mathbf{15}$ electron volts). This implies our Galaxy contains PeV accelerators (PeVatrons), but all proposed models of Galactic cosmic-ray accelerators encounter non-trivial difficulties at exactly these energies. Tens of Galactic accelerators capable of accelerating particle to tens of TeV (1 TeV =$10^\mathbf{12}$ electron volts) energies were inferred from recent gamma-ray observations. None of the currently known accelerators, however, not even the handful of shell-type supernova remnants commonly believed to supply most Galactic cosmic rays, have shown the characteristic tracers of PeV particles: power-law spectra of gamma rays extending without a cutoff or a spectral break to tens of TeV. Here we report deep gamma-ray observations with arcminute angular resolution of the Galactic Centre regions, which show the expected tracer of the presence of PeV particles within the central 10~parsec of the Galaxy. We argue that the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* is linked to this PeVatron. Sagittarius A* went through active phases in the past, as demonstrated by X-ray outbursts and an outflow from the Galactic Centre. Although its current rate of particle acceleration is not sufficient to provide a substantial contribution to Galactic cosmic rays, Sagittarius A* could have plausibly been more active over the last $\gtrsim 10^{6-7}$ years, and therefore should be considered as a viable alternative to supernova remnants as a source of PeV Galactic cosmic rays.

Probing the Cosmic Gamma-Ray Burst Rate with Trigger Simulations of the Swift Burst Alert Telescope

The gamma-ray burst (GRB) rate is essential for revealing the connection between GRBs, supernovae and stellar evolution. Additionally, the GRB rate at high redshift provides a strong probe of star formation history in the early universe. While hundreds of GRBs are observed by Swift, it remains difficult to determine the intrinsic GRB rate due to the complex trigger algorithm of Swift. Current studies of the GRB rate usually approximate the Swift trigger algorithm by a single detection threshold. However, unlike the previously flown GRB instruments, Swift has over 500 trigger criteria based on photon count rate and additional image threshold for localization. To investigate possible systematic biases and explore the intrinsic GRB properties, we develop a program that is capable of simulating all the rate trigger criteria and mimicking the image threshold. Our simulations show that adopting the complex trigger algorithm of Swift increases the detection rate of dim bursts. As a result, our simulations suggest bursts need to be dimmer than previously expected to avoid over-producing the number of detections and to match with Swift observations. Moreover, our results indicate that these dim bursts are more likely to be high redshift events than low-luminosity GRBs. This would imply an even higher cosmic GRB rate at large redshifts than previous expectations based on star-formation rate measurements, unless other factors, such as the luminosity evolution, are taken into account. The GRB rate from our best result gives a total number of 4571^{+829}_{-1584} GRBs per year that are beamed toward us in the whole universe. SPECIAL NOTE (2015.05.16): This new version incorporates an erratum. All the GRB rate normalizations ($R_{\rm GRB}(z=0)$) should be a factor of 2 smaller than previously reported. Please refer to the Appendix for more details. We sincerely apologize for the mistake.

Constraints on non-flat cosmologies with massive neutrinos after Planck 2015

Chen, Yun; Ratra, Bharat; Biesiada, Marek; Li, Song; Zhu, Zong-Hong

We investigate two dark energy cosmological models (i.e., the $\Lambda$CDM and $\phi$CDM models) with massive neutrinos in both the spatially flat and non-flat scenarios, where in the $\phi$CDM model the scalar field possesses an inverse power-law potential, $V(\phi)\propto {\phi}^{-\alpha}$ ($\alpha>0$). Cosmic microwave background data from Planck 2015, baryon acoustic oscillations data from 6dFGS, SDSS-MGS, BOSS-LOWZ and BOSS CMASS-DR11, the JLA compilation of Type Ia supernova apparent magnitude observations, and the Hubble Space Telescope $H_0$ prior, are jointly employed to constrain the model parameters. In the spatially flat (non-flat) $\Lambda$CDM model, the sum of neutrino masses is bounded as $\Sigma m_{\nu} < 0.166 (0.354)$ eV at 95\% confidence level (CL). Correspondingly, in the flat (non-flat) $\phi$CDM model, we find $\Sigma m_{\nu} < 0.164 (0.364)$ eV at 95\% CL. The inclusion of spatial curvature as a free parameter results in a significant broadening of confidence regions for $\Sigma m_{\nu}$ and other parameters. However, the curvature density parameter is constrained to $-0.0017 < \Omega_k < 0.0092$ for the $\Lambda$CDM model and $-0.0019 < \Omega_k < 0.0096$ for the $\phi$CDM model at 95\% CL, which is very close to zero.

Optical and near infrared observations of SN 2014ck: an outlier among the Type Iax supernovae

We present a comprehensive set of optical and near-infrared photometric and spectroscopic observations for SN 2014ck, extending from pre-maximum to six months later. These data indicate that SN 2014ck is photometrically nearly identical to SN 2002cx, which is the prototype of the class of peculiar transients named SNe Iax. Similar to SN 2002cx, SN 2014ck reached a peak brightness $M_B=-17.37 \pm 0.15$ mag, with a post-maximum decline-rate $\Delta m_{15} (B) = 1.76 \pm 0.15$ mag. However, the spectroscopic sequence shows similarities with SN 2008ha, which was three magnitudes fainter and faster declining. In particular, SN 2014ck exhibits extremely low ejecta velocities, $\sim 3000$ km s$^{-1}$ at maximum, which are close to the value measured for SN 2008ha and half the value inferred for SN 2002cx. The bolometric light curve of SN 2014ck is consistent with the production of $0.10^{+0.04}_{-0.03} M_{\odot}$ of $^{56}$Ni. The spectral identification of several iron-peak features, in particular Co II lines in the NIR, provides a clear link to SNe Ia. Also, the detection of narrow Si, S and C features in the pre-maximum spectra suggests a thermonuclear explosion mechanism. The late-phase spectra show a complex overlap of both permitted and forbidden Fe, Ca and Co lines. The appearance of strong [Ca~II] $\lambda\lambda$7292, 7324 again mirrors the late-time spectra of SN 2008ha and SN 2002cx. The photometric resemblance to SN 2002cx and the spectral similarities to SN 2008ha highlight the peculiarity of SN 2014ck, and the complexity and heterogeneity of the SNe Iax class.

Post-maximum near infrared spectra of SN 2014J: A search for interaction signatures

We present near infrared (NIR) spectroscopic and photometric observations of the nearby Type Ia SN 2014J. The seventeen NIR spectra span epochs from +15.3 to +92.5 days after $B$-band maximum light, while the $JHK_s$ photometry include epochs from $-$10 to +71 days. This data is used to constrain the progenitor system of SN 2014J utilizing the Pa$\beta$ line, following recent suggestions that this phase period and the NIR in particular are excellent for constraining the amount of swept up hydrogen-rich material associated with a non-degenerate companion star. We find no evidence for Pa$\beta$ emission lines in our post-maximum spectra, with a rough hydrogen mass limit of $\lesssim$0.1 $M_{\odot}$, which is consistent with previous limits in SN 2014J from late-time optical spectra of the H$\alpha$ line. Nonetheless, the growing dataset of high-quality NIR spectra holds the promise of very useful hydrogen constraints.

Dark matter cores all the way down

Read, J. I.; Agertz, O.; Collins, M. L. M.

We use high resolution simulations of isolated dwarf galaxies to study the physics of dark matter cusp-core transformations at the edge of galaxy formation: M200 = 10^7 - 10^9 Msun. We work at a resolution (~4 pc minimum cell size; ~250 Msun per particle) at which the impact from individual supernovae explosions can be resolved, becoming insensitive to even large changes in our numerical 'sub-grid' parameters. We find that our dwarf galaxies give a remarkable match to the stellar light profile; star formation history; metallicity distribution function; and star/gas kinematics of isolated dwarf irregular galaxies. Our key result is that dark matter cores of size comparable to the stellar half mass radius (r_1/2) always form if star formation proceeds for long enough. Cores fully form in less than 4 Gyrs for the M200 = 10^8 Msun and 14 Gyrs for the 10^9 Msun dwarf. We provide a convenient two parameter 'coreNFW' fitting function that captures this dark matter core growth as a function of star formation time and the projected stellar half mass radius. Our results have several implications: (i) we make a strong prediction that if LCDM is correct, then 'pristine' dark matter cusps will be found either in systems that have truncated star formation and/or at radii r > r_1/2; (ii) complete core formation lowers the projected velocity dispersion at r_1/2 by a factor ~2, which is sufficient to fully explain the 'too big to fail problem'; and (iii) cored dwarfs will be much more susceptible to tides, leading to a dramatic scouring of the subhalo mass function inside galaxies and groups.

Neutrino-Driven Convection in Core-Collapse Supernovae: High-Resolution Simulations

We present results from high-resolution semi-global simulations of neutrino-driven convection in core-collapse supernovae. We employ an idealized setup with parametrized neutrino heating/cooling and nuclear dissociation at the shock front. We study the internal dynamics of neutrino-driven convection and its role in re-distributing energy and momentum through the gain region. We find that even if buoyant plumes are able to locally transfer heat up to the shock, convection is not able to create a net positive energy flux and overcome the downwards transport of energy from the accretion flow. Turbulent convection does, however, provide a significant effective pressure support to the accretion flow as it favors the accumulation of energy, mass and momentum in the gain region. We derive an approximate equation that is able to explain and predict the shock evolution in terms of integrals of quantities such as the turbulent pressure in the gain region or the effects of non-radial motion of the fluid. We use this relation as a way to quantify the role of turbulence in the dynamics of the accretion shock. Finally, we investigate the effects of grid resolution, which we change by a factor 20 between the lowest and highest resolution. Our results show that the shallow slopes of the turbulent kinetic energy spectra reported in previous studies are a numerical artefact. Kolmogorov scaling is progressively recovered as the resolution is increased.

Extreme Supernova Models for the Superluminous Transient ASASSN-15lh

The recent discovery of the unprecedentedly superluminous transient ASASSN-15lh (or SN 2015L) challenges all the power-input models that have been proposed for superluminous supernovae. Here we examine some of the few viable interpretations of ASASSN-15lh in the context of a stellar explosion, involving combinations of one or more power inputs. We model the lightcurve of ASASSN-15lh with a hybrid model that includes contributions from magnetar spin-down energy and hydrogen-poor circumstellar interaction. We also investigate models of pure circumstellar interaction with a massive hydrogen-deficient shell and discuss about the lack of interaction features in the observed spectra. We find that ASASSN-15lh can be best modeled by the energetic core-collapse of a ~40 Msun supernova interacting with a hydrogen-poor shell of ~20 Msun. The circumstellar shell and progenitor mass are consistent with a rapidly rotating pulsational pair-instability supernova progenitor as required for strong interaction following the final supernova explosion. Additional energy injection by a magnetar with initial period of 1-2 ms and magnetic field of (0.1-1) x 10^14 G can supply the excess luminosity required to overcome the deficit in single-component models. Hybrid circumstellar interaction magnetar spin-down models can also account for the late-time UV-bright plateau phase observed in ASASSN-15lh while single-input models fail to account for this feature.

CEMP stars: possible hosts to carbon planets in the early universe

Mashian, Natalie; Loeb, Abraham

We explore the possibility of planet formation in the carbon-rich protoplanetary disks of carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars, possible relics of the early Universe. The chemically anomalous abundance patterns ([C/Fe] $\geq$ 0.7) in this subset of low-mass stars suggest pollution by primordial core-collapsing supernovae (SNe) ejecta that are particularly rich in carbon dust grains. By comparing the dust-settling timescale in the protoplanetary disks of CEMP stars to the expected disk lifetime (assuming dissipation via photoevaporation), we determine the maximum distance $r_{max}$ from the host CEMP star at which carbon-rich planetesimal formation is possible, as a function of the host star's [C/H] abundance. We then use our linear relation between $r_{max}$ and [C/H], along with the theoretical mass-radius relation derived for a solid, pure carbon planet, to characterize potential planetary transits across host CEMP stars. Given that the related transits are detectable with current and upcoming space-based transit surveys, we suggest initiating an observational program to search for carbon planets around CEMP stars in hopes of shedding light on the question of how early planetary systems may have formed after the Big Bang.

Choked Jets and Low-Luminosity Gamma-Ray Bursts as Hidden Neutrino Sources

Senno, Nicholas; Murase, Kohta; Meszaros, Peter

We consider gamma-ray burst (GRB) jets that are choked by extended material as sources of high-energy cosmic neutrinos. We take into account the jet propagation physics both inside the progenitor star and the surrounding dense medium. Radiation constraints, which are relevant for high-energy neutrino production are considered as well. Efficient shock acceleration of cosmic rays is possible for sufficiently low-power jets and/or jets buried in a dense, extended wind or outer envelope. Such conditions also favor GRB jets to become stalled, and the necessary conditions for stalling are explicitly derived. Such choked jets may explain transrelativistic supernovae (SNe) and low-luminosity (LL) GRBs, giving a unified picture of GRBs and GRB-SNe. Focusing on this unified scenario for GRBs, we calculate the resulting neutrino spectra from choked jets including the relevant microphysical processes such as multipion production in pp and pgamma interactions, as well as the energy losses of mesons and muons. We obtain diffuse neutrino spectra using the latest results for the luminosity function of LL GRBs. Although uncertainties are large, we confirm that LL GRBs can potentially give a significant contribution to the diffuse neutrino flux. Our results are consistent with the present IceCube data and do not violate the stacking limits on classical high-luminosity GRBs. We find that high-energy neutrino production in choked jets is dominated by pgamma interactions. These sources are dark in GeV-TeV gamma-rays, and do not contribute significantly to the Fermi diffuse gamma-ray background. Assuming stalled jets can launch a quasi-spherical shock in the dense medium, precursor TeV neutrinos emerging prior to the shock breakout gamma-ray emission can be used as smoking gun evidence for a choked jet model for LL GRBs. Our results strengthen the relevance of wide field-of-view sky monitors.

Bayesian comparison of non-standard cosmologies using type Ia supernovae and BAO data

Santos, B.; Devi, N. Chandrachani; Alcaniz, J. S.

We use the most recent type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) observations to perform a statistical comparison between the standard $\Lambda$CDM model and its extensions ($w$CDM and $w(z)$CDM) and some alternative cosmologies, namely: the Dvali--Gabadadze--Porrati (DGP) model, a power-law $f(R)$ scenario in the metric formalism and an example of vacuum decay ($\Lambda(t)$CDM) cosmology in which the dilution of pressureless matter is attenuated with respect to the usual $a^{-3}$ scaling due to the interaction of the dark matter and dark energy fields. We perform a Bayesian model selection analysis using the Affine-Invariant Monte-Carlo Ensemble sampler. In order to obtain the posterior distribution for the parameters of each model, we use the Joint Lightcurve Analysis (JLA) SNe Ia compilation containing 740 events in the interval $0.01 < z < 1.3$. The data are analysed with the SALT-II light-curve fitter and the model selection is then performed by computing the Bayesian evidence of each model and the Bayes factor between them. The results indicate that the JLA data only cannot distinguish the standard $\Lambda$CDM from its alternatives but their combination with current measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations can. We provide a rank order for the models considered and also discuss the influence of the $H_0$ priors on the results.

Short Gamma-Ray Bursts from the Merger of Two Black Holes

Perna, Rosalba; Lazzati, Davide; Giacomazzo, Bruno

Short Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are explosions of cosmic origin believed to be associated with the merger of two compact objects, either two neutron stars, or a neutron star and a black hole. The presence of at least one neutron star has long been thought to be an essential element of the model: its tidal disruption provides the needed baryonic material whose rapid accretion onto the post-merger black hole powers the burst. The recent tentative detection by the Fermi satellite of a short GRB in association with the gravitational wave signal GW150914 produced by the merger of two black holes has challenged this standard paradigm. Here we show that the evolution of two high-mass, low-metallicity stars with main sequence rotational speeds a few tens of percent of the critical speed eventually undergoing a weak supernova explosion {\em can} produce a short gamma-ray burst. The outer layers of the envelope of the last exploding star remain bound and circularize at large radii. With time, the disk cools and becomes neutral, suppressing the magneto-rotational instability, and hence the viscosity. The disk remains 'long-lived dead' until tidal torques and shocks during the pre-merger phase heat it up and re-ignite accretion, rapidly consuming the disk and powering the short gamma-ray burst.

Copious r-process enrichment from a single event in an ancient dwarf galaxy

Ji, Alexander P.; Frebel, Anna; Chiti, Anirudh; Simon, Joshua D.

The elements heavier than zinc are synthesized through the (r)apid and (s)low neutron-capture processes. The primary astrophysical production site of the r-process elements (such as europium) has been debated for nearly 60 years. Chemical abundance trends of old Galactic halo stars initially suggested continual r-process production from sources like core-collapse supernovae, but evidence in the local universe favored r-process production primarily from rare events like neutron star mergers. The appearance of a europium abundance plateau in some dwarf spheroidal galaxies was suggested as evidence for rare r-process enrichment in the early universe, but only under the assumption of no gas accretion into the dwarfs. Invoking cosmologically motivated gas accretion actually favors continual r-process enrichment in those systems. Furthermore, the universal r-process pattern has not been cleanly identified in those galaxies. The smaller, chemically simpler, and more ancient ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs) assembled shortly after the formation of the first stars and are ideal systems to study nucleosynthesis processes such as the r-process. Here we report that seven of nine stars observed with high-resolution spectroscopy in the recently discovered UFD Reticulum II show strong enhancements in heavy neutron-capture elements with abundances that exactly follow the universal r-process pattern above barium. The enhancement in this "r-process galaxy" is 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than what is seen in any other UFD. This implies that a single rare event produced the r-process material in Reticulum II, whether or not gas accretion was significant in UFDs. The r-process yield is incompatible with ordinary core-collapse supernova yields but consistent with r-process production in neutron star mergers.

Spectral splits of neutrinos as a BCS-BEC crossover type phenomenon

Pehlivan, Y.; Suba??, A. L.; Ghazanfari, N.; Birol, S.; Yüksel, H.

We show that the phenomenon of neutrino spectral split, which might be observed in the next galactic supernova neutrino signal, is analogous to the BCS-BEC crossover already observed in ultra cold atomic gas experiments. Although these two phenomena belong to two very different domains of physics, the propagation of neutrinos from highly interacting inner regions to the vacuum is reminiscent of the evolution of Cooper pairs between weak and strong interaction regimes. The Hamiltonians and the corresponding ground states undergo very similar transformations if one replaces the pair quasispin of the latter with the neutrino isospin of the former.

SN 2015U: A Rapidly Evolving and Luminous Type Ibn Supernova

Supernova (SN) 2015U (also known as PSN J07285387+3349106) was discovered in NGC 2388 on 2015 Feb. 11. A rapidly evolving and luminous event, it showed hydrogen-free spectra dominated by relatively narrow helium P-Cygni spectral features and it was classified as a SN Ibn. In this paper we present photometric, spectroscopic, and spectropolarimetric observations of SN 2015U, including a Keck/DEIMOS spectrum (resolution $\approx 5000$) which fully resolves the optical emission and absorption features. We find that SN 2015U is best understood via models of shock breakout from extended and dense circumstellar material (CSM), likely created by a history of mass loss from the progenitor with an extreme outburst within $\sim$1-2 yr of core collapse (but we do not detect any outburst in our archival imaging of NGC 2388). We argue that the high luminosity of SN 2015U was powered not through $^{56}$Ni decay but via the deposition of kinetic energy into the ejecta/CSM shock interface, and we place an upper limit on the amount of $^{56}$Ni synthesized by SN 2015U: $M(^{56}{\rm Ni}) < 0.019$ M$_{\odot}$. Though our analysis is hampered by strong host-galaxy dust obscuration (which likely exhibits multiple components), our dataset makes SN 2015U one of the best-studied Type Ibn supernovae and provides a bridge of understanding to other rapidly fading transients, both luminous and relatively faint.

Quantum Simulations of Nuclei and Nuclear Pasta with the Multi-resolution Adaptive Numerical Environment for Scientific Simulations

Sagert, I.; Fann, G. I.; Fattoyev, F. J.; Postnikov, S.; Horowitz, C. J.

Neutron star and supernova matter at densities just below the nuclear matter saturation density is expected to form a lattice of exotic shapes. These so-called nuclear pasta phases are caused by Coulomb frustration. Their elastic and transport properties are believed to play an important role for thermal and magnetic field evolution, rotation and oscillation of neutron stars. Furthermore, they can impact neutrino opacities in core-collapse supernovae. In this work, we present proof-of-principle 3D Skyrme Hartree-Fock (SHF) simulations of nuclear pasta with the Multi-resolution ADaptive Numerical Environment for Scientific Simulations (MADNESS). We perform benchmark studies of $^{16} \mathrm{O}$, $^{208} \mathrm{Pb}$ and $^{238} \mathrm{U}$ nuclear ground states and calculate binding energies via 3D SHF simulations. Results are compared with experimentally measured binding energies as well as with theoretically predicted values from an established SHF code. The nuclear pasta simulation is initialized in the so-called waffle geometry as obtained by the Indiana University Molecular Dynamics (IUMD) code. The size of the unit cell is 24\:fm with an average density of about $\rho = 0.05 \:\mathrm{fm}^{-3}$, proton fraction of $Y_p = 0.3$ and temperature of $T=0\:$MeV. Our calculations reproduce the binding energies and shapes of light and heavy nuclei with different geometries. For the pasta simulation, we find that the final geometry is very similar to the initial waffle state. In the present pasta calculations spin-orbit forces are not included but will be added in the future. Within the MADNESS framework, we can successfully perform calculations of inhomogeneous nuclear matter. By using pasta configurations from IUMD it is possible to explore different geometries and test the impact of self-consistent calculations on the latter.

Population III stars around the Milky Way

Komiya, Yutaka; Suda, Takuma; Fujimoto, Masayuki Y.

We explore the possibility of observing Population III (Pop~III) stars, born of the primordial gas. Pop~III stars with masses below $0.8 M_\odot$ should survive to date though are not observed yet, but the existence of stars with low metallicity as [Fe/H]$ < -5$ in the Milky Way halo suggests the surface pollution of Pop~III stars with accreted metals from the interstellar gas after birth. In this paper, we investigate the runaway of Pop~III stars from their host mini-halos, considering the ejection of secondary members from binary systems when their massive primaries explode as supernovae. These stars save them from the surface pollution. By computing the star formation and chemical evolution along with the hierarchical structure formation based on the extended Press--Schechter merger trees, we demonstrate that several hundreds to tens of thousands of low-mass Pop~III stars escape from the building blocks of the Milky Way. The second and later generations of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars are also escaped from the mini-halos. We discuss the spatial distributions of these escaped stars by evaluating the distances between the mini-halos in the branches of merger trees under the spherical collapse model of dark matter halos. It is demonstrated that the escaped stars distribute beyond the stellar halo with a density profile close to the dark matter halo, while the Pop~III stars are slightly more centrally concentrated . Some escaped stars leave the Milky Way and spread into the intergalactic space. Based on the results, we discuss the feasibility of observing the Pop~III stars with the pristine surface abundance.

On the origin of the CDDR violation

Gonçalves, R. S.

The investigation of any violation in the Cosmic Distance Duality Relation (CDDR) is one of the most important sources of investigation for a new physic. In this paper we propose a new method to find the origin of a possible violation on the CDDR. Such violation is defined from the equation $\frac{d_L}{d_A(1+z)^2} = \eta$, with $\eta \neq 1$. We analyze the observational constraints from SNIa, BAO and $f_{gas}$ for the parameter $\eta$ using three different parameterizations. We create three data sets with the following combinations: (Set I) $d_L$ data from SNIa and $d_A$ data from BAO measurements, (Set II) $d_L$ data from $f_{gas}$ and $d_A$ from BAO measurements and (Set III) $d_L$ from SNIa and $d_A$ from $f_{gas}$ measurements. The sets have 18 points and a redshift difference between the observational pairs of $\Delta z \leq 0.08$. It is found that the difference between Sets I and II is up to five times higher than Sets I and III, what suggest that a violation in the CDDR come from a new physics related with the angular diameter distance.

UV-Optical Observation of Type Ia Supernova SN 2013dy in NGC 7250

Extensive and independent observations of Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) SN 2013dy are presented, including a larger set of $UBVRI$ photometry and optical spectra from a few days before the peak brightness to $\sim$ 200 days after explosion, and ultraviolet (UV) photometry spanning from $t \approx -10$ days to $t \approx\ +15$ days referring to the $B$ band maximum. The peak brightness (i.e., $M_{\rm B} = -19.65 \pm 0.40$ mag, $L_{\rm max} = [1.95 \pm 0.55] \times 10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$) and the mass of synthesised $^{56}$Ni (i.e., $M$($^{56}$Ni) = 0.90 $\pm$ 0.26 M$_{\odot}$) are calculated, and they conform to the expectation for a SN Ia with a slow decline rate (i.e., $\Delta m_{15}(B)$ = 0.90 $\pm$ 0.03 mag, Phillips 1993). However, the near infrared (NIR) brightness of this SN (i.e., $M_{\rm H} = -17.33 \pm 0.30$ mag) is at least 1.0 mag fainter than usual. Besides, spectroscopy classification reveals that SN 2013dy resides on the border of "core normal" and "shallow silicon" subclasses in the Branch et al. (2009) classification scheme, or on the border of the "normal velocity" SNe Ia and 91T/99aa-like events in the Wang et al. (2009a) system. These suggest that SN 2013dy is a slow-declining SN Ia located on the transitional region of nominal spectroscopic subclasses and might not be a typical normal sample of SNe Ia.

Cosmic-Ray Hardenings in the Light of AMS-02

Ohira, Yutaka; Kawanaka, Norita; Ioka, Kunihito

Recent precise observations of cosmic rays (CRs) by AMS-02 experiment clearly show (1) harder spectra of helium and carbon compared to protons by $\propto R^{0.08}$, and (2) concave breaks in proton and helium spectra at a rigidity $R \sim 300$ GV. In particular the helium and carbon spectra are exactly similar, pointing to the same acceleration site. We examine possible interpretations of these features and identify a chemically enriched region, that is, superbubbles as the most probable origin of Galactic CRs in high rigidity $R>30$ GV. The similar spectra of CR carbon and helium further suggest that the CRs with $R>30$ GV originate from the supernova ejecta in the superbubble core, mixed with comparable or less amount of interstellar medium. We predict similar spectra for heavy nuclei.

Discovery of molecular hydrogen in SN 1987A

Both CO and SiO have been observed at early and late phases in SN 1987A. H_2 was predicted to form at roughly the same time as these molecules, but was not detected at early epochs. Here we report the detection of NIR lines from H_2 at 2.12 mu and 2.40 mu in VLT/SINFONI spectra obtained between days 6489 and 10,120. The emission is concentrated to the core of the supernova in contrast to H-alpha and approximately coincides with the [Si I]/[Fe II] emission detected previously in the ejecta. Different excitation mechanisms and power sources of the emission are discussed. From the nearly constant H_2 luminosities we favour excitation resulting from the 44Ti decay.

Parametric initial conditions for core-collapse supernova simulations

Suwa, Yudai; Müller, Ewald

We investigate a method to construct parametrized progenitor models for core-collapse supernova simulations. Different from all modern core-collapse supernova studies, which rely on progenitor models from stellar evolution calculations, we follow the methodology of Baron & Cooperstein (1990) to construct initial models. Choosing parametrized spatial distributions of entropy and electron fraction as a function of mass coordinate and solving the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium, we obtain the initial density structures of our progenitor models. First, we calculate structures with parameters fitting broadly the evolutionary model s11.2 of Woosley et al. (2002). We then demonstrate the reliability of our method by performing general relativistic hydrodynamic simulations in spherical symmetry with the isotropic diffusion source approximation to solve the neutrino transport. Our comprehensive parameter study shows that initial models with a small central entropy ($\lesssim 0.4\,k_B$ nucleon$^{-1}$) can explode even in spherically symmetric simulations. Models with a large entropy ($\gtrsim 6\,k_B$ nucleon$^{-1}$) in the Si/O layer have a rather large explosion energy ($\sim 4\times 10^{50}$ erg) at the end of the simulations, which is still rapidly increasing.

The origin of the $\alpha$-enhancement of massive galaxies

We study the origin of the stellar $\alpha$-element-to-iron abundance ratio, $[\alpha/\mathrm{Fe}]_{\ast}$, of present-day central galaxies, using cosmological, hydrodynamical simulations from the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) project. For galaxies with stellar masses of $M_{\ast} > 10^{10.5}$ M$_{\odot}$, $[\alpha/\mathrm{Fe}]_{\ast}$ increases with increasing galaxy stellar mass and age. These trends are in good agreement with observations of early-type galaxies, and are consistent with a `downsizing' galaxy formation scenario: more massive galaxies have formed the bulk of their stars earlier and more rapidly, hence from an interstellar medium (ISM) that was mostly $\alpha$-enriched by massive stars. In the absence of feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN), however, $[\alpha/\mathrm{Fe}]_{\ast}$ in $M_{\ast} > 10^{10.5}$ M$_{\odot}$ galaxies is roughly constant with stellar mass and decreases with mean stellar age, extending the trends found for lower-mass galaxies in both simulations with and without AGN. We conclude that AGN feedback can account for the $\alpha$-enhancement of massive galaxies, as it suppresses their star formation, quenching more massive galaxies at earlier times, thereby preventing the iron from longer-lived intermediate-mass stars (supernova Type Ia) from being incorporated into younger stars.

Testing the mapping between redshift and cosmic scale factor

Wojtak, Rados?aw; Prada, Francisco

The canonical redshift-scale factor relation, 1/a=1+z, is a key element in the standard LambdaCDM model of the big bang cosmology. Despite its fundamental role, this relation has not yet undergone any observational tests since Lemaitre and Hubble established the expansion of the Universe. It is strictly based on the assumption of the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker metric describing a locally homogeneous and isotropic universe and that photons move on null geodesics of the metric. Thus any violation of this assumption, within general relativity or modified gravity, can yield a different mapping between the model redshift z=1/a-1 and the actually observed redshift z_obs, i.e. z_obs neq z. Here we perform a simple test of consistency for the standard redshift-scale factor relation by determining simultaneous observational constraints on the concordance LambdaCDM cosmological parameters and a generalized redshift mapping z=f(z_obs). Using current baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and Type Ia supernova (SN) data we demonstrate that the generalized redshift mapping is strongly degenerated with dark energy. Marginalization over a class of monotonic functions f(z_obs) changes substantially degeneracy between matter and dark energy density: the density parameters become anti correlated with nearly vertical axis of degeneracy. Furthermore, we show that current SN and BAO data, analysed in a framework with the generalized redshift mapping, do not constrain dark energy unless the BAO data include the measurements from the Ly-alpha forest of high-redshift quasars.

Shock Breakout and Early Light Curves of Type II-P Supernovae Observed with Kepler

We discovered two transient events in the Kepler field with light curves that strongly suggest they are type II-P supernovae. Using the fast cadence of the Kepler observations we precisely estimate the rise time to maximum for KSN2011a and KSN2011d as 10.5$\pm 0.4$ and 13.3$\pm 0.4$ rest-frame days respectively. Based on fits to idealized analytic models, we find the progenitor radius of KSN2011a (280$\pm 20$ R$_\odot$) to be significantly smaller than that for KSN2011d (490$\pm 20$ R$_\odot$) but both have similar explosion energies of 2.0$\pm 0.3\times 10^{51}$ erg. The rising light curve of KSN2011d is an excellent match to that predicted by simple models of exploding red supergiants (RSG). However, the early rise of KSN2011a is faster than the models predict possibly due to the supernova shockwave moving into pre-existing wind or mass-loss from the RSG. A mass loss rate of $10^{-4}$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ from the RSG can explain the fast rise without impacting the optical flux at maximum light or the shape of the post-maximum light curve. No shock breakout emission is seen in KSN2011a, but this is likely due to the circumstellar interaction suspected in the fast rising light curve. The early light curve of KSN2011d does show excess emission consistent with model predictions of a shock breakout. This is the first optical detection of a shock breakout from a type II-P supernova.

Key Issues Review: Numerical studies of turbulence in stars

Arnett, W. David; Meakin, Casey

The numerical simulation of turbulence in stars has led to a rich set of possibilities regarding stellar pulsations, asteroseismology, thermonuclear yields, and formation of neutron stars and black holes. The breaking of symmetry by turbulent flow grows in amplitude as collapse is approached, which insures that the conditions at the onset of collapse are not spherical. This lack of spherical symmetry has important implications for the mechanism of explosion and ejected nucleosynthesis products. Numerical resolution of several different types of three--dimensional (3D) stellar simulations are compared; it is suggested that core collapse simulations may be under-resolved. New physical effects which appear in 3D are summarized. Connections between simulations of progenitor explosion and observations of supernova remnants (SNR) are discussed. Present treatment of boundaries, for mixing regions during He--burning, requires revision.

A review of the impact of sterile neutrino dark matter on core-collapse supernovae

We review the impact of sterile neutrino dark matter on core-collapse supernova explosions. We summarize various oscillations between electron neutrinos or mixed $\mu-\tau$ neutrinos and right-handed sterile neutrinos that have been studied within a supernova model. In particular, we consider sterile neutrino masses and mixing angles that are consistent with sterile neutrino dark matter candidates as indicated by recent x-ray flux measurements. We review how mixing between electron neutrinos and sterile neutrinos can significantly enhance the shock energy, and even a model that does not explode can be made to explode by this mechanism. However, the mixing between $\mu-\tau$ neutrinos and sterile neutrinos does not significantly alter the explosion and has little effect on the neutrino luminosities at early times.

Distance Duality Relation from Strong Gravitational Lensing

Under very general assumptions of metric theory of spacetime, photons traveling along null geodesics and photon number conservation, two observable concepts of cosmic distance, i.e. the angular diameter and the luminosity distances are related to each other by the so-called distance duality relation (DDR) $D^L=D^A(1+z)^2$. Observational validation of this relation is quite important because any evidence of its violation could be a signal of new physics. In this paper we introduce a new method to test DDR based on strong gravitational lensing systems and type Ia supernovae under a flat universe. The method itself is worth attention, because unlike previously proposed techniques, it does not depend on all other prior assumptions concerning the details of cosmological model. We tested it using a new compilation of strong lensing systems and JLA compilation of type Ia supernovae and found no evidence of DDR violation. For completeness, we also combined it with previous cluster data and showed its power on constraining DDR. It could become a promising new probe in the future in light of forthcoming massive strong lensing surveys and because of expected advances in galaxy cluster modlelling.

The environment of the gamma-ray emitting SNR G338.3-0.0: a hadronic interpretation for HESS J1640-465

Supan, L.; Supanitsky, A. D.; Castelletti, G.

The supernova remnant (SNR) G338.3-0.0 spatially correlates with HESS J1640-465, which is considered the most luminous gamma-ray source associated with a SNR in our Galaxy. The X-ray pulsar PSR J1640-4631 has been recently discovered within the SNR shell, which could favor a leptonic origin for the detected very-high energy (VHE) emission. In spite of this, the origin of the VHE radiation from HESS J1640-465 has not been unambiguously clarified so far. Indeed, a hadronic explanation cannot be ruled out by current observations. On the basis of atomic (HI) and molecular (12^CO) archival data, we determine, for the first time, the total ambient density of protons in the region of the G338.3-0.0/HESS J1640-465 system, a critical parameter for understanding the emission mechanisms at very high energies. The value obtained is in the 100-130 cm^-3 range. Besides this, we developed a new hadronic model to describe the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the HESS J1640-465 source, which includes the latest total gamma-ray cross-section for proton-proton collisions available in the literature. By using the assessed ambient proton density, we found that the total energy in accelerated protons required to fit the data is 5.4^{+4.7}_{-2.3} x 10^49 erg and 1.6^{+1.4}_{-0.7} x 10^50 erg for a source distance of 8.5 and 13 kpc, respectively. The case where the source distance is 8.5 kpc agrees with the typical scenario in which the energy released is on the order of 10^51 erg and ~10% of that energy is transferred to the accelerated protons, whereas the case corresponding to a source distance of 13 kpc requires either a higher value of the energy released in the explosion or a larger energy fraction to accelerate protons.

Neutral Current Coherent Cross Sections -- Implications on Gaseous Spherical TPC's for detecting SN and Earth neutrinos

Vergados, J. D.; Giomataris, Y.

The detection of galactic supernova (SN) neutrinos represents one of the future frontiers of low-energy neutrino physics and astrophysics. The neutron coherence of neutral currents (NC) allows quite large cross sections in the case of neutron rich targets, which can be exploited in detecting earth and sky neutrinos by measuring nuclear recoils. They are relatively cheap and easy to maintain. The relevant NC cross sections are not dependent on flavor conversions and, thus, their measurement will provide useful information about the neutrino source. In particular they will yield information about the primary neutrino fluxes and perhaps about the spectrum after flavor conversions in neutrino sphere.They might also provide some clues about the neutrino mass hierarchy. The advantages of large gaseous low threshold and high resolution detectors with time projection counters (TPC) are discussed.

Observational evidence for the evolution of nuclear metallicity and star formation rate as the merger stage

Guo, Rui; Hao, Cai-Na; Xia, Xiao-Yang; Wei, Peng; Guo, Xin

We investigate the evolution of nuclear gas-phase oxygen abundance and star formation rate (SFR) of local far-infrared selected star-forming galaxies along the merger sequence, as traced by their optical morphologies. The sample was drawn from a cross-correlation analysis of the IRAS Point Source Catalog Redshift Survey and 1 Jy ultraluminous infrared galaxies sample with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 database. The investigation is done by comparing our sample to a control sample matched in the normalized redshift distribution in two diagnostics, which are the nuclear gas-phase metallicity vs. stellar mass and the nuclear SFR vs. stellar mass diagrams. Galaxies with different morphological types show different mass-metallicity relations (MZR). Compared to the MZR defined by the control sample, isolated spirals have comparable metallicities with the control sample at a given stellar mass. Spirals in pairs and interacting galaxies with projected separations $r_{p} >$ 20 kpc show mild metallicity dilution of 0.02-0.03 dex. Interacting galaxies with $r_{p} <$ 20 kpc, pre-mergers and advanced mergers are under-abundant by ~0.06, ~0.05 and ~0.04 dex, respectively. This shows an evolutionary trend that the metallicity is increasingly depressed as the merging proceeds and it is diluted most dramatically when two galaxies are closely interacting. Afterwards, the interstellar medium (ISM) is enriched when the galaxies coalesce. This is the first time that such ISM enrichment at the final coalescence stage is observed, which demonstrates the importance of supernova explosion in affecting the nuclear metallicity. Meanwhile the central SFR enhancement relative to the control sample evolves simultaneously with the nuclear gas-phase oxygen abundance. Our results support the predictions from numerical simulations.

Constraining LTB models with JLA supernovae and BAO

Vargas, C. Z.; Falciano, F. T.; Reis, R. R. R.

In the present work we constrain three different profiles of a Lema\^itre-Tolman-Bondi model using supernovae type Ia and baryon acoustic oscillation data. We improve common practice in the literature by carefully calibrating the supernovae in the appropriate inhomogeneous background dynamics. In addition, we address subtle issues in order to propagate the primordial BAO scale to present epoch. The combined analysis of BAO+SNIa offers a stringent test for these models. We use two distinct parameter estimation approaches, namely, the $\chi^2$ and the complete likelihood functional. It has been argued that these two approaches are not equivalent and indeed our analysis shows a specific example of their departure.

X-ray analysis of the galaxy group UGC03957 beyond R200 with Suzaku

Thölken, S.; Lovisari, L.; Reiprich, T. H.; Hasenbusch, J.

We investigated the gas properties of the galaxy group UGC03957 up to $1.4R_{200} \approx 1.4$Mpc in four azimuthal directions with the Suzaku satellite and performed a spectral analysis of five Suzaku observations with 138ks good exposure time in total as well as five Chandra snapshot observations for point source detection. We found a temperature drop of a factor of ${\sim} 3$ from the center to the outskirts which is consistent with previous results for galaxy clusters. The metal abundance profile shows a flat behavior towards large radii which is a hint for galactic winds as the primary ICM enrichment process. The entropy profile is consistent with numerical simulations after applying a gas mass fraction correction. Previous analyses for clusters and groups often showed an entropy flattening or even a drop around ${\sim} R_{200}$ which can be an indicator for clumping or non-equilibrium states in the outskirts. Such entropy behaviour is absent in UGC03957. The gas mass fraction is well below the cosmic mean but rises above this value beyond $R_{200}$ which could be a hint for deviations from hydrostatic equilibrium at these large radii. We determined the relative number of different supernovae types and found that the abundance pattern can be described by a relative contribution of 80% - 100% of core-collapse supernovae. This result is in agreement with previous measurements for galaxy groups.

The type Iax supernova, SN 2015H: a white dwarf deflagration candidate

We present results based on observations of SN 2015H which belongs to the small group of objects similar to SN 2002cx, otherwise known as type Iax supernovae. The availability of deep pre-explosion imaging allowed us to place tight constraints on the explosion epoch. Our observational campaign began approximately one day post-explosion, and extended over a period of about 150 days post maximum light, making it one of the best observed objects of this class to date. We find a peak magnitude of M$_r$ = -17.27 $\pm$ 0.07, and a ($\Delta m_{15})_r$ = 0.69 $\pm$ 0.04. Comparing our observations to synthetic spectra generated from simulations of deflagrations of Chandrasekhar mass carbon-oxygen white dwarfs, we find reasonable agreement with models of weak deflagrations that result in the ejection of ~0.2 M$_{\odot}$ of material containing ~0.07 M$_{\odot}$ of 56Ni. The model light curve however, evolves more rapidly than observations, suggesting that a higher ejecta mass is to be favoured. Nevertheless, empirical modelling of the pseudo-bolometric light curve suggests that $\lesssim$0.6 M_sun of material was ejected, implying that the white dwarf is not completely disrupted, and that a bound remnant is a likely outcome.