Resurrection of Nonthermal Emissions from Type Ib/c Supernova Remnants

Abstract

Supernova remnants (SNRs) are important objects in investigating the links among supernova (SN) explosion mechanism(s), progenitor stars, and cosmic-ray acceleration. Nonthermal emission from SNRs is an effective and promising tool for probing their surrounding circumstellar media (CSM) and, in turn, the stellar evolution and mass-loss mechanism(s) of massive stars. In this work, we calculate the time evolution of broadband nonthermal emissions from Type Ib/c SNRs, whose CSM structures are derived from the mass-loss history of their progenitors. Our results predict that Type Ib/c SNRs make a transition of brightness in radio and γ -ray bands from an undetectable dark for a certain period to a rebrightening phase. This transition originates from their inhomogeneous CSM structures in which the SNRs are embedded within a low-density wind cavity surrounded by a high-density wind shell and the ambient interstellar medium (ISM). The “resurrection” in nonthermal luminosity happens at an age of ∼1000 yr old for a Wolf-Rayet star progenitor evolved within a typical ISM density. Combining with the results of Type II SNR evolution recently reported by Yasuda et al., this result sheds light on a comprehensive understanding of nonthermal emissions from SNRs with different SN progenitor types and ages, which is made possible for the first time by the incorporation of realistic mass-loss histories of the progenitors.