Supernovae Powered by Collapsar Accretion in Gamma-Ray Burst Sources

Understand

The association of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) with Type Ic supernovae presents a challenge to supernova explosion models.

• In the collapsar model for LGRBs, gamma rays are produced in an ultrarelativistic jet launching from the magnetosphere of the black hole that forms in the aftermath of the collapse of a rotating progenitor star.
• The jet is collimated along the star's rotation axis, but the concomitant luminous supernova should be relatively--though certainly not entirely--spherical, and should synthesize a substantial mass of 56Ni.
• Our goal is to provide a qualitative assessment of the possibility that accretion of the progenitor envelope onto the black hole, which powers the LGRB, could also deposit sufficient energy and nickel mass in the envelope to produce a luminous supernova.