Wave-driven Outbursts and Variability of Low-mass Supernova Progenitors

Abstract

In a substantial number of core-collapse supernovae (SNe), early-time interaction indicates a dense circumstellar medium (CSM) that may be produced by outbursts from the progenitor star. Wave-driven mass loss is a possible mechanism to produce these signatures, with previous work suggesting that this mechanism is most effective for low-mass (∼11 M_⊙) SN progenitors. Using one-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations with MESA, we study the effects of this wave heating in SN progenitors of masses M_(ZAMS) = 10–13 M_⊙. This range encompasses stars that experience semidegenerate central neon burning and more degenerate off-center neon ignition. We find that central Ne ignition at M_(ZAMS) = 11 M_⊙ produces a burst of intense wave heating that transmits ∼10⁴⁷ erg of energy at 10 yr before core collapse, whereas other masses experience smaller levels of wave heating. Wave heating does not hydrodynamically drive mass loss in any of our models and is unlikely to produce a very massive CSM on its own. However, wave heating can cause large radial expansion (by more than an order of magnitude), photospheric cooling, and luminosity brightening by up to ∼10⁶ L_⊙ in hydrogen-poor stripped star models. Some Type Ib/c progenitors could drastically change their appearance in the final years of their lives, with brightness in the visual bands increasing by nearly 3 mag. Moreover, interaction with a close binary companion could drive intense mass loss, with implications for Type Ibn and other interaction-powered SNe.