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arXiv · 2302.06686

VERITAS and Fermi-LAT constraints on the Gamma-ray Emission from Superluminous Supernovae SN2015bn and SN2017egm

Abstract

Superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are a rare class of stellar explosions with luminosities ~10-100 times greater than ordinary core-collapse supernovae. One popular model to explain the enhanced optical output of hydrogen-poor (Type I) SLSNe invokes energy injection from a rapidly spinning magnetar. A prediction in this case is that high-energy gamma rays, generated in the wind nebula of the magnetar, could escape through the expanding supernova ejecta at late times (months or more after optical peak). This paper presents a search for gamma-ray emission in the broad energy band from 100 MeV to 30 TeV from two Type I SLSNe, SN2015bn, and SN2017egm, using observations from Fermi-LAT and VERITAS. Although no gamma-ray emission was detected from either source, the derived upper limits approach the putative magnetar's spin-down luminosity. Prospects are explored for detecting very-high-energy (VHE; 100 GeV - 100 TeV) emission from SLSNe-I with existing and planned facilities such as VERITAS and CTA.

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A. Acharyya, C. B. Adams, P. Bangale, W. Benbow, J. H. Buckley, M. Capasso, V. V. Dwarkadas, M. Errando, A. Falcone, Q. Feng, J. P. Finley, G. M. Foote, L. Fortson, A. Furniss, G. Gallagher, A. Gent, W. F Hanlon, O. Hervet, J. Holder, T. B. Humensky, W. Jin, P. Kaaret, M. Kertzman, M. Kherlakian, D. Kieda, T. K Kleiner, S. Kumar, M. J. Lang, M. Lundy, G. Maier, C. E McGrath, J. Millis, P. Moriarty, R. Mukherjee, M. Nievas-Rosillo, S. O'Brien, R. A. Ong, S. R. Patel, K. Pfrang, M. Pohl, E. Pueschel, J. Quinn, K. Ragan, P. T. Reynolds, D. Ribeiro, E. Roache, J. L. Ryan, I. Sadeh, M. Santander, G. H. Sembroski, R. Shang, M. Splettstoesser, D. Tak, J. V. Tucci, A. Weinstein, D. A. Williams, B. D. Metzger, M. Nicholl, I. Vurm. 2023-02-13. VERITAS and Fermi-LAT constraints on the Gamma-ray Emission from Superluminous Supernovae SN2015bn and SN2017egm. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acb7e6

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