VERITAS and Fermi-LAT constraints on the Gamma-ray Emission from Superluminous Supernovae SN2015bn and SN2017egm

Superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are a rare class of stellar explosions with luminosities ~10-100 times greater than ordinary core-collapse supernovae. One popular model to explain the enhanced optical output of hydrogen-poor (Type I) SLSNe invokes energy injection from a rapidly spinning magnetar....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2023-02
Main Authors: Acharyya, A, Adams, C B, Bangale, P, Benbow, W, Buckley, J H, Capasso, M, Dwarkadas, V V, Errando, M, Falcone, A, Feng, Q, Finley, J P, Foote, G M, tson, L, Furniss, A, Gallagher, G, Gent, A, Hanlon, W F, Hervet, O, Holder, J, Humensky, T B, Jin, W, Kaaret, P, Kertzman, M, Kherlakian, M, Kieda, D, Kleiner, T K, Kumar, S, Lang, M J, Lundy, M, Maier, G, McGrath, C E, Millis, J, Moriarty, P, Mukherjee, R, M Nievas-Rosillo, O'Brien, S, Ong, R A, Patel, S R, Pfrang, K, Pohl, M, Pueschel, E, Quinn, J, Ragan, K, Reynolds, P T, Ribeiro, D, Roache, E, Ryan, J L, Sadeh, I, Santander, M, Sembroski, G H, Shang, R, Splettstoesser, M, Tak, D, Tucci, J V, Weinstein, A, Williams, D A, Metzger, B D, Nicholl, M, Vurm, I
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ejecta
Energy bands
Explosions
Gamma emission
Gamma ray astronomy
Gamma rays
High energy astronomy
Luminosity
Magnetars
Nebulae
Supernovae
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Summary:Superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are a rare class of stellar explosions with luminosities ~10-100 times greater than ordinary core-collapse supernovae. One popular model to explain the enhanced optical output of hydrogen-poor (Type I) SLSNe invokes energy injection from a rapidly spinning magnetar. A prediction in this case is that high-energy gamma rays, generated in the wind nebula of the magnetar, could escape through the expanding supernova ejecta at late times (months or more after optical peak). This paper presents a search for gamma-ray emission in the broad energy band from 100 MeV to 30 TeV from two Type I SLSNe, SN2015bn, and SN2017egm, using observations from Fermi-LAT and VERITAS. Although no gamma-ray emission was detected from either source, the derived upper limits approach the putative magnetar's spin-down luminosity. Prospects are explored for detecting very-high-energy (VHE; 100 GeV - 100 TeV) emission from SLSNe-I with existing and planned facilities such as VERITAS and CTA.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.2302.06686