On the brightness of surviving companions in type Ia supernova remnants

Abstract

The progenitor systems for type Ia supernovae are still controversial. One of the methods used to test the proposed scenario for the progenitor systems is to identify companions that are supposed to survive according to the so-called single degenerate scenario. These companions might be affected by supernova ejecta. We present several numerical simulations of surviving red giant companions whose envelopes were stripped and heated. We find that red giants with less-massive helium cores (0.30 M) can be so faint after the supernovae that we cannot detect them. In addition, we apply the results to the case of SNR 0509-67.5, and put constraints on the helium core mass, envelope stripping, and energy injection under the single degenerate scenario for type Ia supernovae.