Magnetar-powered superluminous supernovae must first be exploded by jets

Understand

We analyze recent magnetar light-curve modeling of 38 hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe), and find that the energies of the explosions themselves, that take place before the magnetar energy is released, are more than what the neutrino-driven explosion mechanism can supply for about half of the systems.

• These SLSNe must have been exploded by a different process than the delayed neutrino mechanism, most likely the jet feedback mechanism (JFM).
• The conclusion for magnetar modeling of SLSNe is that jets launched at magnetar birth cannot be ignored, not at the explosion itself and not later when mass fall-back might occur.
• More generally, the present analysis strengthens the call for a paradigm shift from neutrino-driven to jet-driven explosion models of all core collapse supernovae.