Cikota, A. orcid.org/0000-0001-7101-9831, Leloudas, G., Bulla, M. orcid.org/0000-0002-8255-5127 et al. (15 more authors) (2018) Testing the magnetar scenario for superluminous supernovae with circular polarimetry. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. sly076. ISSN 1745-3925
Abstract
Superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are at least ∼5 times more luminous than common supernovae (SNe). Especially hydrogen-poor SLSN-I are difficult to explain with conventional powering mechanisms. One possible scenario that might explain such luminosities is that SLSNe-I are powered by an internal engine, such as a magnetar or an accreting black hole. Strong magnetic fields or collimated jets can circularly polarize light. In this work, we measured circular polarization of two SLSNe-I with the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS2) mounted at the ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). PS17bek, a fast evolving SLSN-I, was observed around peak, while OGLE16dmu, a slowly evolving SLSN-I, was observed 100 days after maximum. Neither SLSN shows evidence of circularly polarized light, however, these non-detections do not rule out the magnetar scenario as the powering engine for SLSNe-I. We calculate the strength of the magnetic field and the expected circular polarization as a function of distance from the magnetar, which decreases very fast. Additionally, we observed no significant linear polarization for PS17bek at four epochs, suggesting that the photosphere near peak is close to spherical symmetry.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2017 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. |
Keywords: | supernovae: general; supernovae: individual: OGLE16dmu; PS17bek; polarization |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Physics and Astronomy (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ROYAL SOCIETY UF150689 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 21 Jun 2018 13:08 |
Last Modified: | 21 Jun 2018 13:08 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/sly076 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/mnrasl/sly076 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:132356 |