Explosion of a Supernova with a Red Giant Companion

Abstract

The problem of the explosion of a supernova in a binary system and the effect on the binary companion have been explored semi-analytically (COLGATE [1], CHENG [2], SUTANTYO [3], WHEELER, LECAR, and McKEE [4], BURROWS and LAT- TIMER [5]) and numerically (FRYXELL and ARNETT [6], TAMM and FRYXELL [7]). Main sequence stars are found to be very resiliant because of their large central mass concentration. They are subject to some mass stripping by the effects of direct momentum transfer and ablation, but the effect is relatively small, of order 0.01 M. The momentum transfer to the companion is even smaller than that given by simple estimates because the blast wave tends to wrap around the star and provide a back pressure neglected in the semi-analytic estimates but computed in two-dimensional simulations [6,7]. Wheeler et al. included estimates of the impact of a supernova on a red giant star as well, and concluded that the loosely bound envelope would be stripped from the core. Fryxell and Arnett and Taam and Fryxell only com¬puted main sequence companions in their 2-D simulations. Because the numerical simulations showed features that the simpler estimates did not, a two-dimensional computation of a supernova exploding next to a red giant companion was computed with a 2-D interface-tracking code developed by Livne.