The superluminous SN DES13S2cmm as a signature of a Quark-Nova in a He-HMXB system

Abstract

We show that by appealing to a Quark-Nova (the explosive transition of a neutron star to a quark star) occurring in an He-HMXB system we can account for the lightcurve of the first superluminous SN, DES13S2cmm, discovered by the Dark-Energy Survey. The neutron star's explosive conversion is triggered as a result of accretion during the He-HMXB second Common Envelope phase. The dense, relativistic, Quark-Nova ejecta in turn energizes the extended He-rich Common Envelope in an inside-out shock heating process. We find an excellent fit (reduced chi^2 of 1.09) to the bolometric light-curve of SN DES13S2cmm including the late time emission, which we attribute to Black Hole accretion following the conversion of the Quark Star to a Black hole.