---
title: Supernova-Induced Binary-Powered Supernovae
url: https://www.emergentmind.com/topics/supernova-induced-binary-interaction-powered-supernovae
type: topic
---

# Supernova-Induced Binary-Powered Supernovae

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Supernova-induced binary-interaction-powered supernovae are transients in which the supernova explosion itself initiates a new binary-interaction phase that then powers a substantial part of the observed emission. In the SIBIPS scenario proposed for the peculiar Type Ic SN2022jli, ejecta from a stripped-envelope supernova impact a close stellar companion, heat and inflate the companion envelope, and allow the newborn neutron star to accrete at super-Eddington rates while moving through the inflated envelope; feedback from that accretion produces a luminous, slowly declining component with superposed orbital undulations [2507.09974]. The class therefore occupies a distinct niche within the broader landscape of binary-modified and interaction-powered supernovae: its energy reservoir is neither ordinary radioactive decay nor standard ejecta–circumstellar-medium interaction alone, but post-supernova compact-object accretion induced by the ejecta–companion collision.

## 1. Conceptual position within interacting-transient physics

The defining feature of a SIBIPS event is that the supernova does not simply reveal pre-existing binary structure; it actively creates the conditions for later binary-powered luminosity. In the proposed sequence, a stripped star explodes, remains in a bound post-supernova binary with a non-degenerate companion, and the ejecta impact temporarily drive the companion far out of thermal equilibrium. The subsequent luminosity arises from accretion feedback onto the newborn neutron star rather than directly from the initial shock or from radioactive heating [2507.09974].

This distinguishes SIBIPS from several neighboring channels. In wide mass-transferring binaries and late Case C systems, binary evolution can place dense hydrogen-rich circumstellar material around the progenitor before collapse, so that the later luminosity is powered mainly by ejecta–CSM interaction; examples include wide massive binaries undergoing late Roche-lobe overflow and donors of \(10\)–\(20\,M_\odot\) in binaries with separations of approximately \(1000\)–\(2700\,R_\odot\), which eject \(\sim 0.01\)–\(0.2\,M_\odot\) within \(\sim 10^3\)–\(10^4\) yr of collapse [2308.01819, 2410.16742, 2605.11635]. It also differs from companion-stripping scenarios such as the Type Ic superluminous event iPTF13ehe, where late H\(\alpha\) is attributed to hydrogen removed from a companion by ejecta impact, but the central heating source remains radioactive or magnetar-like rather than post-supernova accretion onto the compact remnant [1510.01621]. A further distinction is with binary-triggered LBV eruptions and supernova impostors, where accretion onto a companion can power the outburst but no terminal core collapse occurs [1009.4307]. SIBIPS is thus a genuinely post-supernova, accretion-powered binary-interaction channel.

## 2. Core physical mechanism

The pre-supernova system in the SN2022jli model is a close binary containing a stripped-envelope progenitor and a non-degenerate companion. After core collapse, the remnant is assumed to be a neutron star of mass
\[
M_\mathrm{NS}=1.4~M_\odot.
\]
The ejecta strike the companion and deposit heat into its outer layers. In the adopted prescription, the total injected heat is
\[
E_\mathrm{heat}=pE_\mathrm{exp}\tilde{\Omega},
\]
with
\[
\tilde{\Omega}\equiv\frac{1-\sqrt{1-(R_2/a)^2}}{2}\sim \frac{R_2^2}{4a^2},
\]
where \(p=1/12\sim0.08\) is the deposition efficiency and \(\tilde{\Omega}\) is the fractional solid angle subtended by the companion [2507.09974].

That heating inflates the companion envelope to radii of order a few \(\times 100\,R_\odot\), as summarized in the model discussion. Because the post-supernova binary remains compact, the neutron star orbit then lies inside, or skims, this extended envelope. The essential dynamical point is that the inflated envelope contains relatively little mass but fills a large volume: it therefore causes limited orbital decay while still supplying high gas density around the neutron star. In the no-feedback case the simulated accretion rate reaches
\[
\dot M \sim 10^{-2}\,M_\odot~\mathrm{yr}^{-1},
\]
and the luminosity tied to accretion is written as
\[
L_\mathrm{acc}=\frac{GM_\mathrm{NS}\dot{M}_\mathrm{NS}}{R_\mathrm{NS}},
\]
with \(R_\mathrm{NS}=12~\mathrm{km}\) [2507.09974].

The paper further argues that the required luminosity for SN2022jli corresponds to accretion at about \(\sim 10^4\,L_\mathrm{Edd}\), and that this may be feasible if the flow is geometrically beamed or enters the hypercritical, neutrino-dominated regime. The relevant range quoted for such accretion is
\[
10^{-4}\,M_\odot~\mathrm{yr}^{-1}\lesssim\dot M\lesssim0.1\,M_\odot~\mathrm{yr}^{-1}.
\]
Periodic light-curve structure then follows naturally from an eccentric orbit: near periastron the neutron star crosses denser envelope regions and accretes more strongly, whereas near apastron it samples lower-density gas. The result is a recurrent modulation of the luminosity on the orbital period [2507.09974].

## 3. Numerical realization of the SIBIPS scenario

The three-dimensional simulations use the code HORMONE, a grid-based hydrodynamics/MHD code solving the Euler equations with a Godunov-type scheme and a hyperbolic self-gravity method. The equation of state combines ideal gas and radiation under LTE. The computational domain is spherical polar, centered on the companion, with upper-hemisphere symmetry. The outer boundary is
\[
r_\mathrm{out}=8\times10^{15}~\mathrm{cm}\sim115{,}000~R_\odot,
\]
with \(N_r=800\), \(N_\theta=32\), and \(N_\phi=256\) [2507.09974].

The post-supernova binary models adopt
\[
P_\mathrm{orb}=12.5~\mathrm{d},
\]
to match the observed modulation period of SN2022jli, and companion masses of \(3\), \(5\), or \(10\,M_\odot\), with the fiducial case at \(M_2=5\,M_\odot\). The eccentricity is varied across \(e=0.3,0.5,0.7\). Accretion onto the neutron star is handled with a sink prescription, and the measured accretion rate roughly tracks the Bondi–Hoyle–Lyttleton form
\[
\dot{M}_\mathrm{BHL}=\frac{\pi G^2M_\mathrm{NS}^2\rho_\infty}{(v_\mathrm{NS}^2+c_{s,\infty}^2)^{3/2}},
\]
particularly near periastron [2507.09974].

A key modelling result is the contrast between thermal and geometrically confined feedback. Thermal feedback deposits trapped accretion luminosity inside the sink region,
\[
L_\mathrm{therm}=(1-e^{-\tau_\mathrm{acc}}) L_\mathrm{acc},
\]
with \(\tau_\mathrm{acc}=\kappa\bar{\rho}_\mathrm{acc}R_\mathrm{acc}\) and \(\kappa=0.1~\mathrm{cm}^2~\mathrm{g}^{-1}\). In the simulations this evacuates the gas around the neutron star too efficiently and suppresses accretion by \(4\)–\(5\) orders of magnitude, roughly to Eddington levels. The preferred models therefore use bipolar kinetic feedback, implemented as outflows within cones of opening angle
\[
\theta_\mathrm{jet}=45^\circ
\]
aligned with the orbital angular momentum. Because that configuration evacuates the polar regions while leaving the orbital plane comparatively dense, it preserves the high equatorial mass supply needed for sustained super-Eddington accretion [2507.09974].

Synthetic light curves are then computed in post-processing through approximate ray tracing and opacity prescriptions, yielding isotropic-equivalent luminosities and blackbody-fitted effective radii and temperatures. The paper emphasizes that this radiative treatment is approximate rather than a full multidimensional radiation-hydrodynamic solution [2507.09974].

## 4. SN2022jli as the prototypical case

SN2022jli is the primary empirical target of the SIBIPS model. The event showed an initially rather normal Type Ic supernova for about \(25\) d, followed by a second rise peaking around \(\sim 50\) d, a decline shallower than radioactive \(^{56}\mathrm{Ni}\) decay, and superposed \(\sim 12.5\) d periodic undulations. Additional features discussed in the paper include GeV \(\gamma\)-rays around \(\sim 200\) d, a rapid optical fading around \(\sim 250\) d, and late H\(\alpha\) emission with possible periodic radial-velocity shifts [2507.09974].

The simulations reproduce the overall late decline and the superposed orbital modulation. The abstract gives the main parameter constraints: to sustain a high accretion rate, the accretion feedback must be sufficiently geometrically confined and the post-supernova eccentricity should satisfy
\[
0.7\lesssim e\lesssim0.9,
\]
while the viewing angle should be close to edge-on in order to reproduce the low undulation amplitude
\[
\Delta L/L\sim0.1
\]
seen in SN2022jli [2507.09974]. This viewing-angle dependence is a direct consequence of anisotropic reprocessing and obscuration in the binary-plus-envelope geometry.

The high eccentricity itself is informative. If the pre-supernova orbit is assumed circular and the ejecta mass is
\[
M_\mathrm{ej}=1.5\,M_\odot,
\]
then mass loss alone would give only modest eccentricities: \(e=1/3\) for \(M_2=3\,M_\odot\), \(e=3/13\) for \(M_2=5\,M_\odot\), and \(e=2/23\) for \(M_2=10\,M_\odot\). The favored SIBIPS solution therefore suggests a natal kick of order
\[
v_\mathrm{kick}\gtrsim50~\mathrm{km~s}^{-1}
\]
for the newborn neutron star [2507.09974].

## 5. Relation to other binary-interaction-powered supernova channels

SIBIPS belongs to a wider binary-interaction landscape, but its immediate power source is unusual. In ultra-stripped progenitors, for example, a late violent silicon-burning episode can eject \(0.2\,M_\odot\) only \(78\) d before core collapse; when the subsequent ejecta mass is only \(0.06\,M_\odot\), the condition
\[
M_\mathrm{CSM}>M_\mathrm{ej}
\]
is satisfied, and the supernova appears as a Type Ibn powered mainly by circumstellar interaction [2507.05506]. In wide RSG binaries, ongoing or late Roche-lobe overflow can supply dense hydrogen-rich CSM with system mass-loss rates up to \(0.01\,M_\odot\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}\), while unstable cases may lead to common-envelope phases and superluminous Type IIn-like outcomes [2308.01819, 2410.16742]. These channels are interaction-powered, but they are powered by ejecta hitting pre-existing nearby CSM.

By contrast, SIBIPS does not require the dominant radiative reservoir to be a pre-collapse shell. The supernova first perturbs the companion, and only then does long-lived accretion onto the compact remnant supply the luminosity. In that sense it is closer in spirit to companion-impact scenarios in which ejecta strip or perturb a binary companion, but it goes further by making the remnant–companion interaction itself the late-time engine [1510.01621]. It also functions as a post-supernova analog of binary-powered impostor models in which mass transfer onto a companion powers luminous LBV eruptions and supernova impostors [1009.4307].

## 6. Uncertainties, extensions, and significance

The present formulation of SIBIPS is deliberately hybrid. The core-collapse explosion and the ejecta–companion collision are not simulated self-consistently; instead, the effect of the ejecta is imposed as an energy injection profile in the companion envelope. Disk formation around the neutron star, magnetospheric physics, and jet launching are not derived from first principles, and the emergent light curve is computed with approximate opacity and post-processing rather than with full radiation hydrodynamics [2507.09974]. These approximations matter because the viability of the mechanism depends sensitively on how efficiently feedback remains confined away from the orbital plane and on how the optically thick inflated envelope reprocesses that energy.

Even with those caveats, the scenario has broader implications. It identifies a route by which an initially ordinary stripped-envelope supernova can evolve into an accretion-powered, periodically modulated transient on timescales of weeks to months. It also suggests that not all interaction-powered supernovae need derive their luminosity from circumstellar structures ejected before collapse; in SIBIPS, the explosion itself creates the accretion reservoir by inflating the companion envelope. The parameter study further suggests that different combinations of companion mass, feedback geometry, eccentricity, and viewing angle could account not only for SN2022jli but also for other peculiar events such as SN2022mop, SN2009ip, and SN2015ap, while the paper explicitly discusses possible explanations for the \(\gamma\)-ray detection at \(\sim 200\) d and the rapid optical drop at \(\sim 250\) d in SN2022jli [2507.09974]. In that form, SIBIPS is best understood as a specific and technically explicit subclass of binary-interaction-powered supernovae in which the supernova triggers the engine that later dominates its own display.

Source: https://www.emergentmind.com/topics/supernova-induced-binary-interaction-powered-supernovae