Type Ia Supernovae: An Examination of Potential Progenitors and the Redshift Distribution

1997/11/18 by Lev R. Yungelson, L. Yungelson, Mario Livio +1 · 7 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Mass distribution #Redshift #Roche lobe #Stars #Supernova #Thermal #Type (biology) #White dwarf #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/305455

29 pages, Latex, 6 figures, aasms4.sty, psfig.sty, to appear in The Astrophysical Journal

arxiv created 1997/11/18 · openalex publication_date 1998/04/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We examine the possibility that Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are produced by white dwarfs accreting from Roche lobe filling evolved companions, under the assumption that a strong optically thick stellar wind from the accretor is able to stabilize the mass transfer. We show that if a mass-transfer phase on a thermal timescale precedes a nuclear-burning driven phase, then such systems (of which the supersoft X-ray sources are a subgroup) can account for about 10% of the inferred SNe Ia rate. In addition, we examine the cosmic history of the supernova rate and show that the ratio of the rate of SNe Ia to the rate of supernovae produced by massive stars (supernovae of Types II, Ib, Ic) should increase from about z = 1 toward lower redshifts.

Citations

• LUMINOUS SUPERSOFT X-RAY SOURCES

Cited by

• RADIO TRANSIENTS FROM THE ACCRETION-INDUCED COLLAPSE OF WHITE DWARFS
• LIN 358: a symbiotic binary accreting above the steady hydrogen fusion limit
• The progenitors of type-Ia supernovae in semidetached binaries with red giant donors
• The History of the Cosmic Supernova Rate Derived from the Evolution of the Host Galaxies
• Type Ia Supernova Explosion Models
• The Distant Type Ia Supernova Rate
• The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems