The Pre-Explosion Mass Distribution of Hydrogen-Poor Superluminous Supernova Progenitors and New Evidence for a Mass-Spin Correlation

Understand

Despite indications that superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) originate from massive progenitors, the lack of a uniformly analyzed statistical sample has so far prevented a detailed view of the progenitor mass distribution.

• Here we present and analyze the pre-explosion mass distribution of hydrogen-poor SLSN progenitors as determined from uniformly modelled light curves of 62 events.
• We construct the distribution by summing the ejecta mass posteriors of each event, using magnetar light curve models presented in our previous works (and using a nominal neutron star remnant mass).
• The resulting distribution spans $3.6-40$ M$_{\odot}$, with a sharp decline at lower masses, and is best fit by a broken power law described by ${\rm d}N/{\rm dlog}M \propto M^{-0.41 \pm 0.06}$ at $3.6-8.6$ M$_{\odot}$ and $\propto M^{-1.26 \pm 0.06}$ at $8.6-40$ M$_{\odot}$.