Constraining the Type Ia Supernova Progenitor: The Search for Hydrogen in Nebular Spectra

Despite intense scrutiny, the progenitor system(s) that gives rise to Type Ia supernovae remains unknown. The favored theory invokes a carbon-oxygen white dwarf accreting hydrogen-rich material from a close companion until a thermonuclear runaway ensues that incinerates the white dwarf. However, simulations resulting from this single-degenerate, binary channel demand the presence of low-velocity Hα emission in spectra taken during the late nebular phase, since a portion of the companion's envelope becomes entrained in the ejecta. This hydrogen has never been detected, but has only rarely been sought. Here we present results from a campaign to obtain deep, nebular-phase spectroscopy of nearby Type Ia supernovae, and include multiepoch observations of two events: SN 2005am (slightly subluminous) and SN 2005cf (normally bright). No Hα emission is detected in the spectra of either object. An upper limit of 0.01 M_solar of solar abundance material in the ejecta is established from the models of Mattila et al., which, when coupled with the mass-stripping simulations of Marietta et al. and Meng et al., effectively rules out progenitor systems for these supernovae with secondaries close enough to the white dwarf to be experiencing Roche lobe overflow at the time of explosion. Alternative explanations for the absence of Hα emission, along with suggestions for future investigations necessary to confidently exclude them as possibilities, are critically evaluated.

Some of the data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation. Additional observations were obtained at the Gemini Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the NSF on behalf of the Gemini partnership: the National Science Foundation (United States), the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (United Kingdom), the National Research Council (Canada), CONICYT (Chile), the Australian Research Council (Australia), CNPq (Brazil), and CONICET (Argentina).