Type Ib and IIb supernova progenitors in interacting binary systems

Abstract

We explore properties of Type Ib and IIb SN progenitors that are produced by stable mass transfer in binary systems, using a new grid of stellar evolution models from an initial primary mass in the range of 10 - 18 $\mathrm{M_\odot}$ at solar and Large Magellanic Cloud metallicities. We find that blue and yellow supergiant SN IIb progenitors (e.g., of SN 2008ax, SN 2011dh, SN 2016gkg) have a hydrogen envelope mass less than about 0.15 $\mathrm{M_\odot}$, mostly resulting from early Case B mass transfer with relatively low initial masses and/or low metallicity. Red supergiant (RSG) SN IIb progenitors (e.g., of SN 1993J, SN 2013df) are produced via late Case B mass transfer and have a more massive hydrogen envelope ($M_\mathrm{H,env} > 0.15~\mathrm{M_\odot}$). SN Ib progenitors are predominantly produced by early Case B mass transfer. Our models predict that SN IIb progenitors are systematically more luminous in the optical ($-8.0 \lesssim M_\mathrm{V} \lesssim -5.0$) than the majority of SN Ib progenitors ($M_\mathrm{V} \gtrsim -5.0$) for our considered initial mass range. However, the optically bright progenitor of SN Ib iPTF13bvn (i.e., $M_\mathrm{V} \simeq -6.5$) can be well explained by a relatively low-mass progenitor with a final mass of $\sim 3.0~\mathrm{M_\odot}$. The event rate of blue and yellow SN IIb progenitors would increase as metallicity decreases, while the event rate of SN Ib progenitors would decrease instead. By contrast, the population of RSG SN IIb progenitors would not be significantly affected by metallicity.