Supernovae in 3-D: Bridging the Gap Between Observations and Theory

Recent theoretical and observational advances promise to revolutionize the study of supernovae by allowing us to glimpse the three-dimensional structure of supernova ejecta. Increases in supercomputing capabilities have encouraged the development of three-dimensional hydrodynamical supernova explosion models, while spectropolarimetric observations with 8m-class telescopes now provide detailed information on the geometric characteristics of supernova ejecta. However, until a mechanism exists to communicate between these two lines of inquiry, our understanding of supernova explosions will remain incomplete. We introduce a new initiative to develop spectrum synthesis and radiative transfer codes that will calculate the spectropolarimetric consequences of hydrodynamical explosion models, thus bridging the gap between observations and theory. Our group is a new collaboration between groups at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that brings together a cutting-edge campaign of spectropolarimetric supernova (SN) observations and a suite of versatile modeling tools, including spectrum synthesis and Monte Carlo radiative transfer codes. Detailed modeling will allow us to predict observable features of explosion models and to analyze existing and future spectropolarimetry in the context of these models. This combined approach can lead to a new understanding of SN ejecta, including the mechanisms of core collapse, the nature of SN progenitor systems, the characteristics of SN environments, and the extent to which ejecta asphericity may affect the determination of cosmological parameters. NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow 277