Properties of gamma-ray decay lines in 3D core-collapse supernova models, with application to SN 1987A and Cas A

Understand

Comparison of theoretical line profiles to observations provides important tests for supernova explosion models.

• We study the shapes of radioactive decay lines predicted by current 3D core-collapse explosion simulations, and compare these to observations of SN 1987A and Cas A.
• Both the widths and shifts of decay lines vary by several thousand kilometers per second depending on viewing angle.
• The line profiles can be complex with multiple peaks.