Probing the physics of newly born magnetars through observation of superluminous supernovae

Quan Cheng, Shuang-Nan Zhang, Yun-Wei Yu, and Xiao-Ping Zheng
Phys. Rev. D 97, 103012 – Published 21 May 2018

Abstract

The central engines of some superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are generally suggested to be newly born fast rotating magnetars, which spin down mainly through magnetic dipole radiation and gravitational wave emission. We calculate the magnetar-powered SLSNe light curves (LCs) with the tilt angle evolution of newly born magnetars involved. We show that, depending on the internal toroidal magnetic fields B¯t, the initial spin periods Pi, and the radii RDU of direct Urca (DU) cores of newly born magnetars, as well as the critical temperature Tc for P23 neutron superfluidity, bumps could appear in the SLSNe LCs after the maximum lights when the tilt angles grow to π/2. The value of Tc determines the arising time and the relative amplitude of a bump. The quantity RDU can affect the arising time and the luminosity of a bump, as well as the peak luminosity of a LC. For newly born magnetars with dipole magnetic fields Bd=5×1014G, B¯t=4.6×1016G, and Pi=1ms, there are no bumps in the LCs if Tc=2×109K, or RDU=1.5×105cm. Moreover, it is interesting that a stronger B¯t will lead to both a brighter peak and a brighter bump in a LC. While keeping other quantities unchanged, the bump in the LC disappears for the magnetar with smaller Pi. We suggest that, once the SLSNe LCs with such kinds of bumps are observed, by fitting these LCs with our model, not only Bd and Pi of newly born magnetars but also the crucial physical quantities B¯t, RDU, and Tc could be determined. Nonobservation of SLSNe LCs with such kinds of bumps hitherto may already put some (though very rough) constraints on B¯t, Pi, RDU, and Tc. Therefore, observation of SLSNe LCs may provide a new approach to probe the physics of newly born magnetars.

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  • Received 5 November 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.97.103012

© 2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Gravitation, Cosmology & AstrophysicsNuclear Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Quan Cheng1,2,*, Shuang-Nan Zhang2,4, Yun-Wei Yu3, and Xiao-Ping Zheng3,5

  • 1School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
  • 2Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • 3Institute of Astrophysics, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China
  • 4University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • 5School of Physics and Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Hubei University of Education, Wuhan 430205, China

  • *qcheng@ihep.ac.cn

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Vol. 97, Iss. 10 — 15 May 2018

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