• DOI:10.1086/182957
• Corpus ID: 116763112

On the theory of type I supernovae.

@article{Arnett1979OnTT,
  title={On the theory of type I supernovae.},
  author={W. David Arnett},
  journal={The Astrophysical Journal},
  year={1979},
  volume={230}
}

• W. Arnett
• Published 15 May 1979
• Physics
• The Astrophysical Journal

A theoretical analysis of the light curves of Type I supernovae is presented. A low-mass helium star (1.5< or approx. =M/sub b//M/sub sun/< or approx. =4), formed by mass transfer in a binary or by extensive mass loss, undergoes core collapse to form a neutron star. The ''reflected'' shock (Van Riper and Arnett) synthesizes and ejects about 0.3 M/sub sun/ of /sup 56/Ni. The low-mass mantle slows the /sup 56/Ni but allows it to escape. The shock does not give a vigorous display in the visual wavelengths because the envelope is not sufficiently extended to do so. The decay of /sup 56/Ni powers the peak of the light curve; the exponential tail phase is powered by kinetic energy from positron emission by /sup 56/Co. The Co-Fe ''core'' lights a surrounding, rapidly expanding, He-rich nebula. During the tail phase, the luminosity in ..gamma..-ray lines is about 20 times that observed in the visible, and should be detectable with ..gamma..-ray spectrometers now operational.