Astrophysics Research Centre

Chapter 2

Lightcurves of Type II supernovae

Summary

2.1 Observed lightcurves of Type II supernovae

2.1.1 How a (non-interacting) Type II supernova looks like

1. The smooth Plateau of SN 1999em and SN 2012ec
2. The almost linear decline of SN 1990K and SN 2009kr
3. Transiting to Type I supernovae: the Type IIb SNe 1993J and 2008ax

2.1.2 The famous (peculiar) lightcurve of SN 1987A 2.1.3 From faint (e.g. SN 2005cs-like) to luminous (e.g. SN 2009kf) events: the variety of Type II supernovae 2.1.4 Two more observables: photospheric velocity and temperature 2.1.5 Measuring cosmological distances with Type II supernova lightcurves and velocities

Notes: - Interacting Type IIn will only be briefly mentioned in 2.1.1, as they are in Chap. 5 (Blinnikov) and 6 (Chevalier & Fransson) - I will not cover peculiar events or non-standard power sources, but will refer to Chap. 7 (Kasen)

2.2 Physics of an expanding, shocked stellar envelope

2.2.1 Diffusion of radiation in a hot, completely ionized expanding medium (This part may include Arnett's analytic treatment, if not presented elsewhere)
2.2.2 Radiative recombination and recombination wavefronts 2.2.3 Ongoing internal powering from radioactive decays of unstable isotopes

Note: needs some coordination wih Chap. 1 (Bersten & Mazzali) and Chap. 7 (Kasen)

2.3 Radiation-hydrodynamics modelling of supernova ejecta

2.3.1 The full radiation-hydrodynamics approach 2.3.2 Evolution of the ejecta internal structure and late time fallback

2.4 Interpreting Type II supernova observables and constraining the progenitor

2.4.1 The emergence of the supernova shock wave 2.4.2 The three canonical evolutionary phases:

1. Expanding photosphere at the outer surface of the ejecta
2. Recombination and receding photosphere through the ejecta
3. Radioactive power, late time lightcurve and metal abundance measurements

2.4.3 Modelling observables and estimating physical parameters of the ejecta and progenitor

Notes: - Sect. 2.4.1 will be very short and refer to Chap. 8 (Waxman & Katz) - Sect. 2.4.3: I presume that direct detection of SN progenitors will be covered elsewhere in the book. So I'll only make some short comparison.