Constraints on the Explosion Timescale of Core-collapse Supernovae Based on Systematic Analysis of Light Curves

Abstract

The explosion mechanism of core-collapse supernovae is not fully understood yet. In this work, we give constraints on the explosion timescale based on 56Ni synthesized by supernova explosions. First, we systematically analyze multiband light curves of 82 stripped-envelope supernovae (SESNe) to obtain bolometric light curves, which is among the largest samples of the bolometric light curves of SESNe derived from the multiband spectral energy distribution. We measure the decline timescale and the peak luminosity of the light curves and estimate the ejecta mass (M ej) and 56Ni mass (M Ni) to connect the observed properties with the explosion physics. We then carry out one-dimensional hydrodynamics and nucleosynthesis calculations, varying the progenitor mass and the explosion timescale. From the calculations, we show that the maximum 56Ni mass that 56Ni-powered SNe can reach is expressed as M Ni ≲ 0.2 M ej. Comparing the results from the observations and the calculations, we show that the explosion timescale shorter than 0.3 s explains the synthesized 56Ni mass of the majority of the SESNe.