3D Hydrodynamical Simulations of Helium-ignited Double-degenerate White Dwarf Mergers
(2022) In Astrophysical Journal Letters 932(2).- Abstract
The origins of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are still debated. Some of the leading scenarios involve a double detonation in double white dwarf (WD) systems. In these scenarios, helium shell detonation occurs on top of a carbon-oxygen (CO) WD, which then drives the detonation of the CO core, producing an SN Ia. Extensive studies have been done on the possibility of a double helium detonation, following a dynamical helium mass-transfer phase onto a CO-WD. However, 3D self-consistent modeling of the double-WD system, the mass transfer, and the helium shell detonation have been little studied. Here we use 3D hydrodynamical simulations to explore this case in which a helium detonation occurs near the point of Roche lobe overflow of the donor... (More)
The origins of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are still debated. Some of the leading scenarios involve a double detonation in double white dwarf (WD) systems. In these scenarios, helium shell detonation occurs on top of a carbon-oxygen (CO) WD, which then drives the detonation of the CO core, producing an SN Ia. Extensive studies have been done on the possibility of a double helium detonation, following a dynamical helium mass-transfer phase onto a CO-WD. However, 3D self-consistent modeling of the double-WD system, the mass transfer, and the helium shell detonation have been little studied. Here we use 3D hydrodynamical simulations to explore this case in which a helium detonation occurs near the point of Roche lobe overflow of the donor WD and may lead to an SN Ia through the dynamically driven double-degenerate double-detonation (D6) mechanism. We find that the helium layer of the accreting primary WD does undergo a detonation, while the underlying CO core does not, leading to an extremely rapid and faint nova-like transient instead of a luminous SN Ia event. This failed core detonation suggests that D6 SNe Ia may be restricted to the most massive CO primary WDs. We highlight the nucleosynthesis of the long-lived radioisotope 44Ti during explosive helium burning, which may serve as a hallmark both of successful as well as failed D6 events, which subsequently detonate as classical double-degenerate mergers.
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- author
- Roy, Niranjan C. ; Tiwari, Vishal ; Bobrick, Alexey LU ; Kosakowski, Daniel ; Fisher, Robert ; Perets, Hagai B. ; Kashyap, Rahul ; Lorén-Aguilar, Pablo and García-Berro, Enrique
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022-06-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Astrophysical Journal Letters
- volume
- 932
- issue
- 2
- article number
- L24
- publisher
- IOP Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85134172751
- ISSN
- 2041-8205
- DOI
- 10.3847/2041-8213/ac75e7
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 4b27cf5e-03ef-467a-9e91-159cbb0c49a2
- date added to LUP
- 2022-09-26 15:43:06
- date last changed
- 2024-04-18 09:52:52
@article{4b27cf5e-03ef-467a-9e91-159cbb0c49a2, abstract = {{<p>The origins of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are still debated. Some of the leading scenarios involve a double detonation in double white dwarf (WD) systems. In these scenarios, helium shell detonation occurs on top of a carbon-oxygen (CO) WD, which then drives the detonation of the CO core, producing an SN Ia. Extensive studies have been done on the possibility of a double helium detonation, following a dynamical helium mass-transfer phase onto a CO-WD. However, 3D self-consistent modeling of the double-WD system, the mass transfer, and the helium shell detonation have been little studied. Here we use 3D hydrodynamical simulations to explore this case in which a helium detonation occurs near the point of Roche lobe overflow of the donor WD and may lead to an SN Ia through the dynamically driven double-degenerate double-detonation (D6) mechanism. We find that the helium layer of the accreting primary WD does undergo a detonation, while the underlying CO core does not, leading to an extremely rapid and faint nova-like transient instead of a luminous SN Ia event. This failed core detonation suggests that D6 SNe Ia may be restricted to the most massive CO primary WDs. We highlight the nucleosynthesis of the long-lived radioisotope 44Ti during explosive helium burning, which may serve as a hallmark both of successful as well as failed D6 events, which subsequently detonate as classical double-degenerate mergers. </p>}}, author = {{Roy, Niranjan C. and Tiwari, Vishal and Bobrick, Alexey and Kosakowski, Daniel and Fisher, Robert and Perets, Hagai B. and Kashyap, Rahul and Lorén-Aguilar, Pablo and García-Berro, Enrique}}, issn = {{2041-8205}}, language = {{eng}}, month = {{06}}, number = {{2}}, publisher = {{IOP Publishing}}, series = {{Astrophysical Journal Letters}}, title = {{3D Hydrodynamical Simulations of Helium-ignited Double-degenerate White Dwarf Mergers}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac75e7}}, doi = {{10.3847/2041-8213/ac75e7}}, volume = {{932}}, year = {{2022}}, }