Collapsars, Gamma-Ray Bursts, and Supernovae

Abstract

A diverse range of phenomena is possible when a black hole experiences very rapid accretion from a disk due to the incomplete explosion of a massive presupernova star endowed with rotation. In the most extreme case, the outgoing shock fails promptly in a rotating helium star, a black hole and an accretion disk form, and a strong gamma-ray burst (GRB) results. However, there may also be more frequently realized cases where the black hole forms after a delay of from several tens of seconds to several hours as approximately 0.1 to 5 solar masses falls back into the collapsed remnant following a mildly successful supernova explosion. There, the same MHD mechanisms frequently invoked to produce GRBs would also produce jets in stars already in the process of exploding. The presupernova star could be a Wolf-Rayet star or a red or blue supergiant. Depending upon its initial pressure, the collimation of the jet may also vary since ``hot'' jets will tend to diverge and share their energy with the rest of the star. From these situations, one expects diverse outcomes ranging from GRBs with a large range of energies and durations, to asymmetric, energetic supernovae with weak GRBs. SN 1998bw may have been the explosion of a star in which fall back produced a black hole and a less collimated jet than in the case of prompt black hole formation.