Type Ia supernovae within dense carbon- and oxygen-rich envelopes: a model for `Super-Chandrasekhar' explosions?

We investigate the consequences of fairly normal Type Ia supernovae being embedded in compact and dense envelopes of carbon- and oxygen-rich circumstellar material by means of detailed radiation hydrodynamic simulations. Our main focus rests on exploring the effects of the interaction between ejecta and circumstellar material on the ejecta evolution and the broad-band light curve. In our calculations, we find that a strong reverse shock efficiently decelerates and compresses the ejecta material. This leads to a significant broadening of the optical light curve, a longer rise to maximum and a slower decline in the tail phase. During the interaction, substantial radiative energy is generated, which mostly emerges in the extreme ultraviolet and X-ray regime. Only if reprocessing due to radiation-matter interactions is very efficient, a significant boost in the optical light curve is observed. We discuss these findings in particular in the context of the superluminous event SN 2009dc. As our calculations are able to reproduce a number of its peculiar properties, we conclude that the flavour of the interaction scenario investigated in this work constitutes a promising candidate to explain such `Super-Chandrasekhar' supernovae.