Lense-Thirring precessing magnetar engine drives a superluminous supernova
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arXiv
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| Auteurs principaux: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866916943422816256 |
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| author | Farah, Joseph R. Prust, Logan J. Howell, D. Andrew Ni, Yuan Qi McCully, Curtis Andrews, Moira Kumar, Harsh Hiramatsu, Daichi Wynn, Sebastian Gomez Kathryn Filippenko, Alexei V. Bostroem, K. Azalee Berger, Edo Blanchard, Peter |
| author_facet | Farah, Joseph R. Prust, Logan J. Howell, D. Andrew Ni, Yuan Qi McCully, Curtis Andrews, Moira Kumar, Harsh Hiramatsu, Daichi Wynn, Sebastian Gomez Kathryn Filippenko, Alexei V. Bostroem, K. Azalee Berger, Edo Blanchard, Peter |
| contents | Type I superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) are at least an order of magnitude brighter than standard supernovae, with the internal power source for their luminosity still unknown. The central engines of SLSNe-I are hypothesized to be magnetars, but the majority of SLSNe-I light curves have multiple bumps or peaks that are unexplained by the standard magnetar model. Existing explanations for the bumps either modulate the central engine luminosity or invoke interactions with material in the circumstellar environment. Systematic surveys of the limited sample of SLSNe-I light curves find no compelling evidence favoring either scenario, leaving both the nature of the light-curve fluctuations and the applicability of the magnetar model unresolved. Here, we report high-cadence multiband observations of an SLSN-I with clear "chirped" (i.e., decreasing period) light-curve bumps that can be directly linked to the properties of the magnetar central engine. Our observations are consistent with a tilted, infalling accretion disk undergoing Lense-Thirring precession around a magnetar centrally located within the expanding supernova ejecta. Our model demonstrates that the overall light curve and bump frequency independently and self-consistently constrain the spin period and the magnetic field strength of the magnetar. Assuming standard accretion disk parameters, we constrain the accretion rate onto the magnetar. Our results provide the first observational evidence of the Lense-Thirring effect in the environment of a magnetar, and confirm the magnetar spin-down model as an explanation for the extreme luminosity observed in SLSNe-I. We anticipate this discovery will create avenues for testing general relativity in a new regime -- the violent centers of young supernovae. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_08051 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Lense-Thirring precessing magnetar engine drives a superluminous supernova Farah, Joseph R. Prust, Logan J. Howell, D. Andrew Ni, Yuan Qi McCully, Curtis Andrews, Moira Kumar, Harsh Hiramatsu, Daichi Wynn, Sebastian Gomez Kathryn Filippenko, Alexei V. Bostroem, K. Azalee Berger, Edo Blanchard, Peter High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Type I superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) are at least an order of magnitude brighter than standard supernovae, with the internal power source for their luminosity still unknown. The central engines of SLSNe-I are hypothesized to be magnetars, but the majority of SLSNe-I light curves have multiple bumps or peaks that are unexplained by the standard magnetar model. Existing explanations for the bumps either modulate the central engine luminosity or invoke interactions with material in the circumstellar environment. Systematic surveys of the limited sample of SLSNe-I light curves find no compelling evidence favoring either scenario, leaving both the nature of the light-curve fluctuations and the applicability of the magnetar model unresolved. Here, we report high-cadence multiband observations of an SLSN-I with clear "chirped" (i.e., decreasing period) light-curve bumps that can be directly linked to the properties of the magnetar central engine. Our observations are consistent with a tilted, infalling accretion disk undergoing Lense-Thirring precession around a magnetar centrally located within the expanding supernova ejecta. Our model demonstrates that the overall light curve and bump frequency independently and self-consistently constrain the spin period and the magnetic field strength of the magnetar. Assuming standard accretion disk parameters, we constrain the accretion rate onto the magnetar. Our results provide the first observational evidence of the Lense-Thirring effect in the environment of a magnetar, and confirm the magnetar spin-down model as an explanation for the extreme luminosity observed in SLSNe-I. We anticipate this discovery will create avenues for testing general relativity in a new regime -- the violent centers of young supernovae. |
| title | Lense-Thirring precessing magnetar engine drives a superluminous supernova |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.08051 |