Related papers: Pair-Instability Supernovae in the Local Universe
The issue of which stars may reach the conditions of electron/positron pair formation instability is of importance to understand the final evolution both of the first stars and of contemporary stars. The criterion to enter the pair…
We use different assumptions for the combination of dust extinction and star formation up to redshifts z >= 5, as well as detailed modeling of supernova properties, to estimate the number of supernovae that should be observable with various…
Supernova experiments to characterize dark energy require a well designed low redshift program; we consider this for both ongoing/near term (e.g. Supernova Legacy Survey) and comprehensive future (e.g. SNAP) experiments. The derived…
We investigate the impact of an early population of massive stars on their surroundings. Dissociation of molecular hydrogen by strong UV emission from such stars is expected to produce a global transition in the cooling mechanism of…
Superluminous supernovae are among the most energetic stellar explosions in the Universe, but their energy sources remain an open question. Here we present long-term observations of one of the closest examples of the hydrogen-poor subclass…
The discovery of a population of superluminous supernovae (SLSNe), with peak luminosities a factor of ~100 brighter than normal SNe (typically SLSNe have M_V <-21), has shown an unexpected diversity in core-collapse supernova properties.…
The detection of the binary black hole merger GW190521, with primary black hole mass $85^{+21}_{-14}$ ${\rm M}_{\odot}$, proved the existence of black holes in the theoretically predicted pair-instability gap ($\sim60-120 \, {\rm…
The ultimate fate of the universe, infinite expansion or a big crunch, can be determined by measuring the redshifts, apparent brightnesses, and intrinsic luminosities of very distant supernovae. Recent developments have provided tools that…
Evolution of first population of massive metal-free binary stars is followed. Due to the low metallicity, the stars are allowed to form with large initial masses and to evolve without significant mass loss. Evolution at zero metallicity,…
The discovery of a star formed out of pair-instability supernova ejecta would have massive implications for the Population III star initial mass function and the existence of stars over 100 Msun, but none have yet been found. Recently, the…
The use of Type Ia supernovae as calibrated standard candles is one of the most powerful tools to study the expansion history of the universe and thereby its energy components. While the analysis of some ~50 supernovae at redshifts around…
The distance and redshift of a type Ia supernova can be determined simultaneously through its multi-band light curves. This fact may be used for imaging surveys that discover and obtain photometry for large numbers of supernovae; so many…
A survey of Type II supernovae explosion models has been carried out to determine how their light curves and spectra vary with their mass, metallicity, and explosion energy. The presupernova models are taken from a recent survey of massive…
The initial mass function (IMF) of the first Pop III stars remains a persistent mystery. Their predicted massive nature implies the existence of stars exploding as pair-instability supernovae (PISN), but no observational evidence had been…
The first stars ended the cosmic Dark Ages and created the first heavy elements necessary for the formation of planets and life. The properties of these stars remain uncertain, and it may be decades before individual Pop III stars are…
The assembly of supermassive black holes poses a challenge primarily because of observed quasars at high redshift, but additionally because of the current lack of observations of intermediate mass black holes. One plausible scenario for…
Some ancient, dim, metal-poor stars may have formed in the ashes of the first supernovae (SNe). If their chemical abundances can be reconciled with the elemental yields of specific Population III (Pop III) explosions, they could reveal the…
In the standard picture of stellar evolution, pair-instability -- the energy loss in stellar cores due to electron-positron pair production -- is predicted to prevent the collapse of massive stars into black holes with mass in the range…
The annihilation of dark matter particles in the centers of minihalos may lead to the formation of so-called dark stars, which are cooler, larger, more massive and potentially more long-lived than conventional population III stars. Here, we…
Our search for high-redshift Type Ia supernovae discovered, in its first years, a sample of seven supernovae. Using a "batch" search strategy, almost all were discovered before maximum light and were observed over the peak of their light…