Binary Evolution of Type Ia Supernovae
Abstract
Observations of Type Ia supernovae (SN~Ia) combined with modeling of dynamics, light curves and spectra continue to point to the difficult conclusion that SN~Ia result from degenerate ignition in a carbon/oxygen white dwarf of the Chandrasekhar mass. Such a model accounts well for the ``normal" SN~Ia and for the observed dispersion exemplified by the light curve amplitude-shape relation. The criterion that the white dwarfs involved in this process grow to nearly 1.4 Msun continues to provide a great challenge to understanding the binary stellar evolution involved. The so-called ``supersoft X-ray sources" may provide an important new population of SN~Ia progenitors. Other techniques are being developed that may constrain the binary evolution.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/9512171,
title = {Binary Evolution of Type Ia Supernovae},
author = {J. Craig Wheeler},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/9512171},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
LaTex 19 pages, to appear in Evolutionary Processes in Binary Stars (NATO ASI) eds R. A. M. J. Wijers, M. B. Davies, and C. A. Tout (Dordrecht: Reidel). Also available at http://tycho.as.utexas.edu/~wheel/ index.html