Lunch talk on Apr. 12, 2024

Synthetic light curves of type IIP supernovae based on physics-driven explosion models

Speaker: Shuai Zha (YNAO)

Venue: SWIFAR Building 2111

Time: 12:30 PM, Friday, Apr. 12, 2024

Abstract: 

Type IIP supernovae (SNe IIP) result from the demise of red supergiants and represent the most common class of supernovae, crucial for benchmarking explosion models. We generated a comprehensive collection of synthetic SNe IIP light curves using radiation-hydrodynamics simulations with physics-driven explosions. When compared with actual SNe IIP data, our models align well in terms of plateau luminosity, duration, and nickel mass, but they fall short in replicating very low nickel mass events and suggest a negative correlation between luminosity and duration absent in observations. Our results also hint that a better understanding of RSG stellar structure is no less important for reliably explaining the LCs of SNe IIP than the explosion physics.