A S PALLATION M ODEL FOR C ASSIOPEIA A

{ A MIR O UYED , R ACHID O UYED , AND D ENIS L EAHY D EPARTMENT OF P HYSICS AND A STRONOMY, U NIVERSITY OF C ALGARY }

I NTRODUCTION
Cassiopeia A is a unusual supernova remnant. Nuclear decay lines of 44 Ca and 44 Sc detected by COMPTEL and BEPPO SAX indicate that the SN detonation synthesized a very large mass for 44 Ti of (0.8 2.5) 104 M [1]. A large amount of 44 Ti implies a very bright explosion, but the 1680 description by Flamsteed indicates a 6th magnitude. Furthermore, Cassiopeia A has been the only SN where 44 Ti decay lines have been detected [2]. While other explanations, like dust extinction [2], are adequate to elucidate about the low luminosity, they are inadequate when explaining the large 44 Ti mass. In this poster we propose an alternative explanation. We assume the Ti mass was not created by the SN detonation, rather, it was created through the spallation of neutrons against the 56 Ni layer of the SN envelope. The neutrons are produced by the explosion of a collapsing neutron star (Quark Nova) [4, 5, 6]. The destruction of 56 Ni would explain the low luminosity, while the creation of 44 Ti would explain the Titanium nuclear decay lines [3].

R ESULTS
A0 0.6 56, tdelay 4 days A0 56, tdelay 5 days A0 56, tdelay 6 days
H

0.3

0.4

0.4 Pr A

Pr A

0.2
He

Pr A 0.2
C

0.2

He LI Be B

Ti

0.1

Ti O Combined

Ti

0.0 0

Combined

Combined

0.0 0 20 40 Atomic Mass A

0.0 0 20 40 Atomic Mass A

20 40 Atomic Mass A

FIG. 1: Spallation products in successive layers (back to front) from 56 Ni for tdelay = 4, 5, 6 days. The overall distribution is shown in the front layer labelled combined [3].

S PALLATION M ODEL
Following a lab analogy, we describe our model as composed of a beam and a target [3]. The beam, a pulse of relativistic, E 10 GeV neutrons, is produced by a neutron star explosion (Quark Nova, or QN) [4, 5, 6]. The target, is the expanding, innermost 56 Ni layer of a core collapse SN. The targets distance from the neutron star is Rin = vtdelay , where v is the velocity of the Ni layer (v c), and tdelay is a parameter that acts as time delay between the QN and the SN. We use MA as the mass of the Ni layer, as the mean free path of the beams neutrons, and a semi-empirical, spallation cross section sp = 45A0.7 mb [7] to derive an expression for the number of collision Ncoll made by an incoming neutron on the Ni layer [3], Ncoll MA,0.1M R , 2.75 0.3 = 2 A56 (v5000km/s tdelay,5 days ) (1)
2 4 6 8 10

150

100

FIG. 2: Mass Yields (upper panel) and total spallation nucleons (bottom panel) versus time delay for 56 Ni target. In the bottom panel, spallation layers are numbered 0-9, with spallation effectively ceasing after 10 layers for tdelay = 2 days [3].

50

0 2 4 6 8 10

where the lower index indicates the units, for example MA,0.1M is in units of 0.1M . For the multiplicity of nucleons generated by a collision, we use a semi-empirical formula [7]. If we treat protons and neutrons identically, and take into account that spallation ceases at E 73 MeV we nd an expression for the average nucleon multiplicity of, (E, A) 4.67A56 (1 + 0.38lnE)Ynp , (2)

D ISCUSSION
Ni poor, Ti rich: In FIG 1, the case for tdelay = 5 days is particularly interesting for CasA, because we can clearly see a rich Ti abundance and a poor Ni abundance, which is consistent with CasAs Ti excess and low luminosity. The uniqueness of CasA could be due to the constraints set up by tdelay = 5 days, and the conditions necessary for a QN. We observe in FIG 2, that for 3 days < tdelay < 7 days, the result is Nipoor, Ti-rich, C-rich debris. This C abundance of our model could explain the C rich atmosphere of CasAs compact object [8]. Delayed Hydrogen signatures: We observe in FIG 2, that although some hydrogen is formed through spallation, it contributes for less than 1 percent of total mass of the target layer. Other hydrogen will be formed by E 73 MeV spallation protons turning into H through recombination, and neutrons decaying into protons (which will also recombine into H). However, the hydrogen signature will be delayed because the trapped recombination and thermal continuum radiation will ionize H. The hydrogen sign will only appear after the SN becomes transparent [3]. Light curve: The late time, radioactive tail of the SN should carry a QN signature, because spallation destroys 56 Ni, but also creates new radioactive isotopes. The buildup of isotopes like 44 Ti and 22 Na from the destruction of 56 Ni could shift higher the values for the bolometric intensity of a SN after 800 days of its detonation, providing an alternative, simpler explanation, to the so called "freeze-out" phase in SN1987a [9]. Possible QN signature: Plausible signatures of the QN in Cas A have recently been suggested by observations [10]. Other distinct spallation signatures in dual-shock QNe have been discussed in [11].

where 1.25 < Ynp < 1.67 [7]. To simulate the destruction of heavy nuclei and the construction of lighter elements, we divide the Ni width into Ncoll imaginary layers, where k = 0 is the innermost layer. A given Ni nucleus will be hit multiple times (Nhits ) by neutrons, resulting in the product nucleus [3],
0 Nhits 1

A1 = A0
j=0

0 (E 0 , Aj ). distributions peaking at
0 Nhits 0

(3) and , where

We draw N0 and 0 from Poisson hits 0 2 Nhits = sp N 0 (1 e1 )/(4Rin ) [3].

R EFERENCES
[1] A. F. Iyudin et al., Astron. Astrophys. 284, L1 (1994). [2] L.-S. The et al., Astron. Astrophys. 450, 1037 (2006). [3] R. Ouyed, D. Leahy, A. Ouyed, and P. Jaikumar Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 151103 (2011) [4] R. Ouyed, J. Dey, and M. Dey, Astron. Astrophys. 390, L39 (2002). [5] P. Keranen, R. Ouyed, and P. Jaikumar, Astrophys. J. 618,485 (2005). [6] B, Niebergal, R. Ouyed, and P. Jaikumar, Phys. Rev. C , 82, 062801 (2010). [7] J. R. Letaw, R. Silberberg, and C. H. Tsao, Astrophys. J.Suppl. Ser. 51, 271 (1983). [8] W. C. G. Ho and C. O. Heinke, Nature (London) 462, 71 (2009). [9] C. Fransson, and C. Kozma, ApJ, 408, L25 (1993). [10] U. Hwang, and J. M. Laming, ApJ, 746, 130 (2012). [11] R. Ouyed, 2012 [arXiv:1203.270] [12] M. Alford et al., Nature (London) 445, E7 (2007). [13] A. Kurkela, P. Romatschke, and A. Vuorinen, Phys. Rev. D 81, 105021 (2010). [14] S. Weissenborn, I. Sagert, G. Pagliara, M. Hempel, and J.Schaffner-Bielich, arXiv:1102.2869. [15] P. S. Shternin et al., Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 412, L108 (2011).

M ODEL A SSUMPTIONS
Our model has some ne tuning that is unavoidable due to uncertainties regarding the nature of the hadron-quark phase transition. Reference [8] gives mass-radius constraints for the compact object in Cas A, which effectively rule out low-mass QSs based on noninteracting quark equations of state. However, large and heavy QSs may exist, so long as the quark super- conducting gap and strong coupling corrections are taken into account (e.g., [12, 13, 14, 15]). The issue of the mass-radius relation for quark stars is still a matter of debate. Spectral tting of Cas A agrees very well with theoretical cooling models for NSs, when superuidity and pair-breaking effects are taken into account [15]. It is unlikely that a QS would exhibit exactly the same cooling behavior as a NS, which is a problem for our model, but there are no comprehensive cooling simulation studies of QS and it might be purely coincidental that at this particularly young age, a NS and a QS have the same surface temperature. Studies of cooling of QSs which include similar attention to physics details (e.g., color superconductivity) are needed to determine whether they could be at all consistent with Cas A.
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