# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

As the supernova ejecta expand they become optically thin in the continuum after $``$ 200 days, and it is possible to directly probe the interior of the ejecta. The main purpose of our modeling of the spectra and line fluxes is to put constraints on the nucleosynthesis taking place in the progenitor, as well as during the explosion itself. See Kozma & Fransson (1998b) for a detailed discussion.

There are several observational indications that mixing occurred in the explosion of SN 1987A. One is the early emergence of X-rays (Dotani et al.1987; Sunyaev et al.1987) and $`\gamma `$-rays (Matz et al.1988). The effects of mixing can also be seen in the observed line profiles at late times (Stathakis et al.1991; Spyromilio, Stathakis, & Meurer 1993; Hanuschik et al.1993). By modeling line profiles we are able to study the distribution of mass of different elements. This mass distribution gives us information on the hydrodynamics taking place in the explosion (e.g., Müller, Fryxell, & Arnett 1991; Herant & Benz 1992; Herant, Benz, & Colgate 1992). In modeling the line profiles we can also see the importance of including all the different composition regions, as well as time dependence in our calculations.

The modeled emission gives information on the energy source powering the ejecta. Possible energy sources at late times are radioactive isotopes, a central compact object, and circumstellar interaction. The radioactive isotopes formed in the explosion, and which power the ejecta at subsequent times are <sup>56</sup>Ni, <sup>57</sup>Ni, and <sup>44</sup>Ti. After $``$ 1700 days <sup>44</sup>Ti is the dominant isotope. The formation of this isotope is sensitive to the occurrence of $`\alpha `$-rich freeze-out (e.g., Woosley & Hoffman 1991; Timmes et al.1996). The amount of this element in the ejecta therefore directly probes the explosion mechanism itself.

Although our model is quite general and may be applied to any supernova, as long as it is not dominated by circumstellar contribution, we will here concentrate on the results from our study of SN 1987A.

## 2 Model

Our modeling of SN 1987A is described in detail in Kozma & Fransson (1998a). Here we will just make a short summary. The explosion model we use here for our abundances is the 10H model (Woosley & Weaver 1986; Woosley 1988). Our density and velocity structure is based on hydrodynamical calculations (e.g., Herant & Benz 1992) and on line profiles (Phillips et al.1990; Meikle et al.1993). Our treatment of the thermalization of the non-thermal $`\gamma `$-rays and positrons from radioactive decays is described in Kozma & Fransson (1992), and is based on the Spencer-Fano equation (Spencer & Fano 1954). The radioactive isotopes we include are <sup>56</sup>Co, <sup>57</sup>Co, and <sup>44</sup>Ti.

We solve the thermal and ionization balances time dependently, as well as the level populations of the most important ions. The total number of transitions included in our calculations are $``$ 6400.

We take dust absorption into account by assuming optically thick clumps with a constant covering factor of 0.40 (Lucy et al.1991; Wooden et al.1993) after 600 days, and a linear increase from 0 to 0.40 in the time interval 350 to 600 days.

## 3 Uncertainties

One of the uncertainties in our modeling is our treatment of line blanketing. The Sobolev approximation is used for the line transfer which in general is a good approximation for the high velocity expansions in supernovae. However, it does not take into account any interaction between different lines or different regions in the ejecta. Especially in the UV, where there are a lot of resonance lines, such interaction is expected to be important. The importance of UV-scattering decreases with time as the matter thins. The blocking of the UV-lines affects the emergent spectrum by degrading the UV-photons to photons of lower energies. It also changes the UV-field within the ejecta which affects the ionization balance for mainly ions with low ionization potentials and low abundances, such as Na I, Mg I, Si I, Ca I, Fe I.

Another aspect of supernova evolution, which we do not include, is the formation of molecules. In SN 1987A CO and SiO were observed already 112 days after the explosion (Oliva, Morwood, & Danziger 1987; Spyromilio et al.1988). Modeling of CO formation in SN 1987A has been done by e.g. Gearhart, Wheeler, & Swartz (1999), who find a CO-mass of $``$ $`10^4\mathrm{M}_{}`$ at 200 days. As molecules can be strong coolers, they can greatly influence the temperature at their formation sites. In order to form CO both carbon and oxygen should be abundant. The most favorable site for this to happen is therefore in the oxygen-carbon rich regions. The most favorable place for SiO to form is in the transition region between the silicon-rich and oxygen-rich regions. The regions suitable for molecule formation have little mass, which explains the low mass of molecules in the ejecta.

The importance of the H<sub>2</sub>-molecule has been discussed by Culhane & McCray (1995). They calculate the abundance of H<sub>2</sub> theoretically as it has not been observed. They also discuss how the resonance scattering in the Lyman and Werner bands may affect the emergent UV-spectra.

There are several observational indications of dust formation in the ejecta after $``$ 400 - 500 days (Roche et al.1989; Lucy et al.1991; Meikle et al.1993). Dust absorbs much of the harder radiation, thermalizes it, and reradiates it in the IR. The dust absorption affects both the line fluxes and profiles. We treat dust absorption in a simplified way in our models, as mentioned above. Our treatment of the dust assumes it to be located in optically thick clumps. This is a reasonable assumption as the effects of dust absorption are seen in both optical and IR lines (Lucy et al.1991), consistent with optically thick clumps.

However, we do not include dust cooling in our calculations.. When we compare our modeled spectra (Figure 2) and light curves (Figure 4) with observations we find a general good agreement. We therefore believe that our temperature structure well describes the conditions in the ejecta, and that dust cooling is not significant in the line emitting regions.

In the decay of <sup>44</sup>Ti $``$ <sup>44</sup>Sc + $`e^+`$ $``$ <sup>44</sup>Ca + $`\gamma `$ the positrons dominate the non-thermal energy input at late times. In our model we assume complete trapping of these positrons in the iron-rich regions, containing the newly synthesized iron. Chugai et al.(1997) find that the intensity of the Fe II lines can be explained only if trapping of the positrons from <sup>44</sup>Ti is efficient in the iron-rich parts of the ejecta. Again based on the fact that we find such good agreement between modeled and observed fluxes (Figures 2 and 4), assuming full trapping of positrons, we believe this to be a good assumption. A leakage of positrons would result in a much faster decline of the light curves than observed.

## 4 Temperature and ionization evolution

The temperatures in the different composition regions in the supernova ejecta evolve differently, depending on composition and density as discussed in detail in Kozma & Fransson (1998a).

The temperature in the inner, heavy-element regions decreases slowly with time until it reaches a temperature of $``$ 2000 K. At that time far-IR lines replace optical lines as the dominant source of cooling and the temperature suddenly drops to $`\stackrel{}{\stackrel{<}{}}\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}\hspace{0.17em}500}`$ K. The reason for this is a thermal instability setting in. The cooling by far-IR lines is insensitive to the temperature at temperature much larger then $``$ 500 K. This sudden drop in temperature is referred to as the IR-catastrophe (Axelrod 1980; Fransson & Chevalier 1989; Fransson 1994).

The time for the onset of the IR-catastrophe varies for the different compositions. For example, in the iron-rich region the drop in temperature sets in at $``$ 600 days (Figure 1). In Figure 1 one can also see the gradual transition from optical to near-IR, and to far-IR lines as the IR-catastrophe sets in.

In the hydrogen- and helium-rich regions this IR-catastrophe is not seen. Here adiabatic cooling is more important, and the temperature decreases more slowly, as $`Tt^2`$.

In our modeling we find it important to include time dependence. After $``$ 800 - 900 days the recombination and cooling time scales become longer than the radioactive decay time scales and the steady state assumption is no longer valid. This freeze-out effect is discussed in Fransson & Kozma (1993), and is crucial for modeling the bolometric light curve, as well as individual line fluxes and profiles.

## 5 Line fluxes

Here we will discuss a couple of interesting points concerning our modeling of line fluxes and spectra. A thorough discussion of the line emission is given in Kozma & Fransson (1998b). In Figure 2 we compare a preliminary calculated spectra with observations and find quite good agreement. In this calculation we have included line scattering in a simplified way. We find that in particular the \[Ca II\] $`\lambda \lambda `$7291,7324 lines and the IR-triplet are very sensitive to the assumption of line scattering. Radiative pumping of the calcium H, K lines by UV emission, mainly from Fe I, is very important at this time.

Because of its importance for the oxygen mass determination we now discuss the \[O I\] $`\lambda \lambda `$6300,6364 lines in some detail. In these lines we can see the temperature evolution of the oxygen-rich regions (dotted line in Figure 3). Up to $``$ 800 days these lines are formed by thermal excitation to the $`{}_{}{}^{1}D`$ level. At that time the IR-catastrophe sets in and the temperature drops rapidly. At later epochs the temperature is too low in these regions for thermal excitation to be of any importance, and non-thermal excitation is responsible for the line emission. We are able to model the thermal part of the light curve quite well. For the non-thermal part, however, we run into problems. There are HST observations of the \[O I\] $`\lambda \lambda `$6300,6364 lines up to day 3597, and we underproduce the line fluxes up to factor of almost 10. In Kozma & Fransson (1998b) we discuss in detail our modeling of these lines. We include contributions from the triplet levels to the $`{}_{}{}^{1}D`$ level, which are sensitive to the composition in the oxygen rich regions. We discuss the importance of photoionization, we try different filling factors, etc. Even if we push all our assumptions as far as we can in order to maximize the \[O I\] $`\lambda \lambda `$6300,6364 fluxes we are still not able to reproduce the observations.

Because of this failure, we are now happy to report that the solution to this problem is to be found in blending of the \[O I\] $`\lambda \lambda `$6300,6364 lines with a fairly strong \[Fe I\] multiplet (Fransson, Kozma & Wang 1999). While this is unimportant for the thermal part, the low non-thermal flux is dominated by the \[Fe I\] lines. In Figure 3 we show a preliminary calculation of the 6300 Å-feature, including both the \[O I\] and \[Fe I\] emission (solid line), together with observations. The dotted line in Figure 3 shows the contribution only from the \[O I\] $`\lambda \lambda `$6300,6364 lines. This agreement therefore makes our determination of the oxygen mass in SN 1987A considerably more firm. In Kozma & Fransson (1998b) we find a value of $``$ 1.9 $`\mathrm{M}_{}`$ of oxygen enriched gas.

## 6 Line profiles

The line profiles provide a tool to probe the distribution of the different elements in the ejecta. In Kozma & Fransson (1998b) we compare our modeled line profiles of H$`\alpha `$, He I 2.058 $`\mu `$m, \[O I\] $`\lambda \lambda `$6300,6364 with observations and estimate the mass and distribution of hydrogen, helium and oxygen.

In Fransson et al.(1999) we continue this work and model the H$`\alpha `$ line profile for different epochs up to 4000 days. We find that the hydrogen envelope, as reflected in the line wings and extending from 2000 to 6000 km s<sup>-1</sup>, becomes increasingly important with time. This is an effect of the freeze-out becoming more important in the outer, low density regions of the envelope.

Our modeled line profiles of iron, e.g., \[Fe II\] 17.94 $`\mu `$m and 25.99 $`\mu `$m also show line wings out to 6000 km s<sup>-1</sup> (Fransson & Kozma 1999), showing that the primordial iron within the hydrogen envelope contributes significantly, due to freeze-out. The contribution from primordial iron to the \[Fe II\] 25.99 $`\mu `$m line flux can be seen in Figure 5 (dash-dotted line).

## 7 <sup>44</sup>Ti-mass

The energy input to the ejecta at late times is the decay of radioactive isotopes formed in the explosion. The three radioactive isotopes that subsequently dominate the energy input are <sup>56</sup>Co, <sup>57</sup>Co, and <sup>44</sup>Ti. The decay of <sup>56</sup>Co dominates up to $``$ 800 - 900 days, thereafter <sup>57</sup>Co becomes an increasingly important energy source. After $``$ 1700 days the energy input to the ejecta is dominated by $`\gamma `$-rays and positrons from the decay of <sup>44</sup>Ti.

The amount of <sup>56</sup>Co in the ejecta is accurately determined from modeling of the bolometric light curve and is found to be $``$ 0.07 $`\mathrm{M}_{}`$ for SN 1987A. Also the amount of <sup>57</sup>Co can be inferred from the bolometric light curve if the effects of freeze-out are properly taken into account (Fransson & Kozma 1993). Other ways to estimate the <sup>57</sup>Co-mass are from studies of \[Fe II\] and \[Co II\] IR-lines (Varani et al.1990; Danziger et al.1991) and observation of the 122 keV <sup>57</sup>Co line (Kurfess et al.1992). The inferred mass of <sup>57</sup>Ni expelled is $``$ 0.0033 $`\mathrm{M}_{}`$.

The <sup>44</sup>Ti isotope is very interesting as it, together with <sup>57</sup>Co, is formed in the very supernova explosion (e.g., Woosley & Hoffman 1991), and the amount formed is sensitive to the conditions prevailing there. There are several ways to try to estimate the mass of <sup>44</sup>Ti in the ejecta of SN 1987A. To model the bolometric light curve and compare it with observations is no longer a fruitful approach. Observational uncertainties of the bolometric light curve are large for times later than $``$ 1200 days, as more and more of the emission emerges in the IR. For example, Bouchet et al.(1996) find that at 2172 days $``$ 97 % of the energy is emitted in the IR, out of which only $``$ 1 % can be directly observed.

A better approach is to observe and model the different broad bands. We then directly avoid the observational uncertainties. In Kozma & Fransson (1999) we discuss our modeling of broad band photometry and by comparing the models with observations we reach a preliminary estimate of the <sup>44</sup>Ti-mass of $`(1.5\pm 1.0)\times 10^4\mathrm{M}_{}`$. In Figure 4 the light curves for the B and V bands are shown. For the three models we use a <sup>44</sup>Ti-mass of $`0.5\times 10^4,1.0\times 10^4`$, and $`2.0\times 10^4\mathrm{M}_{}`$, respectively.

Still another approach to estimate the mass of <sup>44</sup>Ti is to look at individual line fluxes. The line used for such an estimate has to be carefully chosen. For example, the strong and well-understood H$`\alpha `$ line turns out to be a bad choice. The H$`\alpha `$ emission has large contributions from the envelope regions at later times where the freeze-out effect dominates (Kozma & Fransson 1999; Fransson et al.1999). The H$`\alpha `$ emission is therefore very insensitive to the instantaneous energy input.

A better choice would be the iron lines. At these late times they originate in the iron-rich region within the core where freeze-out is much less important. There are however problems also with these lines. Many of the iron lines in the optical and IR are heavily blended, which makes it difficult to infer fluxes of individual lines. Another problem is the uncertainty of the atomic data, in addition to incomplete atomic models. The best individual line is \[Fe II\] 25.99 $`\mu `$m. This arises from collisional excitations and the uncertainties in the atomic data related to the recombination cascade is avoided. Figure 5 shows the calculated flux for the \[Fe II\] 25.99 $`\mu `$m line for SN 1987A. The three <sup>44</sup>Ti-masses used are $`0.5\times 10^4`$, $`1.0\times 10^4`$, and $`2.0\times 10^4`$ $`\mathrm{M}_{}`$ (the three solid lines). As shown in this figure the flux is almost proportional to the <sup>44</sup>Ti-mass after $``$ 2500 days. Also shown in Figure 5 is a steady state model (the dashed line), for the M(<sup>44</sup>Ti)=$`1.0\times 10^4`$ $`\mathrm{M}_{}`$ case. Steady state is a good approximation (for this line) for times earlier than $``$ 1000 days, and times later than $``$ 3000 days. For times in between, time dependence has to be included in order to model the line fluxes accurately. The reason for this can be understood from the origin of the iron flux. The dotted line in Figure 5 shows the contribution to the total line flux from the newly synthesized iron, in the iron-rich regions. The dash-dotted line, on the other hand, shows the contribution from the primordial iron within the hydrogen-rich regions. Between $``$ 1000 and $``$ 2400 days the primordial iron dominates the line flux. But even at earlier times the primordial iron contributes significantly to the flux. This iron mostly resides in the low density hydrogen envelope which is most sensitive to the freeze-out effect, and therefore to the assumption of time-dependence. After $``$ 3000 days the newly synthesized iron dominates the emission. The iron-rich regions is much less affected by freeze-out and the emission directly reflects the energy input. Therefore this line is a good tracer of the <sup>44</sup>Ti-mass. We find in our modeling that approximately half of the supernova’s emission at 4000 days emerges in this line. Therefore the \[Fe II\] 25.99 $`\mu `$m line flux is one of the most reliable ways to determine the <sup>44</sup>Ti-mass.

ISO observations of the \[Fe II\] 25.99 $`\mu `$m are reported in Lundqvist et al.(1999), and give an upper limit on the observed \[Fe II\] 25.99 $`\mu `$m flux on day 3999. These observations together with model calculations give an estimate of the upper limit of the <sup>44</sup>Ti-mass of $`1.4\times 10^4\mathrm{M}_{}`$. A third, and future way, to estimate M(<sup>44</sup>Ti) is to observe the $`\gamma `$-ray line at 1.156 MeV with instruments like INTEGRAL (Leising 1994).

## Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Claes Fransson and Peter Lundqvist for stimulating discussions and for useful comments on the manuscript. I also thank the SINS team (P.I. R. Kirshner) for using data prior to publication. This research was supported by the Swedish Natural Science Research Council, the Swedish National Space Board and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.