TY - JOUR

T1 - The volumetric rate of superluminous supernovae at z ~ 1

AU - Prajs, S.

AU - Sullivan, M.

AU - Smith, M.

AU - Levan, A.

AU - Karpenka, N. V.

AU - Edwards, T. D. P.

AU - Walker, C. R.

AU - Wolf, W. M.

AU - Balland, C.

AU - Carlberg, R.

AU - Howell, D. A.

AU - Lidman, C.

AU - Pain, Reynald

AU - Pritchet, C.

AU - Ruhlmann-Kleider, V.

PY - 2017/1/1

Y1 - 2017/1/1

N2 - We present a measurement of the volumetric rate of superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) at z ∼ 1.0, measured using archival data from the first four years of the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). We develop a method for the photometric classification of SLSNe to construct our sample. Our sample includes two previously spectroscopically identified objects, and a further new candidate selected using our classification technique. We use the point-source recovery efficiencies from Perrett et al. and a Monte Carlo approach to calculate the rate based on our SLSN sample. We find that the three identified SLSNe from SNLS give a rate of | $91^{+76}_{-36}$ | SNe yr−1 Gpc−3 at a volume-weighted redshift of z = 1.13. This is equivalent to 2.2| $^{+1.8}_{-0.9}\times 10^{-4}$ | of the volumetric core-collapse supernova rate at the same redshift. When combined with other rate measurements from the literature, we show that the rate of SLSNe increases with redshift in a manner consistent with that of the cosmic star formation history. We also estimate the rate of ultra-long gamma-ray bursts based on the events discovered by the Swift satellite, and show that it is comparable to the rate of SLSNe, providing further evidence of a possible connection between these two classes of events. We also examine the host galaxies of the SLSNe discovered in SNLS, and find them to be consistent with the stellar-mass distribution of other published samples of SLSNe.

AB - We present a measurement of the volumetric rate of superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) at z ∼ 1.0, measured using archival data from the first four years of the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). We develop a method for the photometric classification of SLSNe to construct our sample. Our sample includes two previously spectroscopically identified objects, and a further new candidate selected using our classification technique. We use the point-source recovery efficiencies from Perrett et al. and a Monte Carlo approach to calculate the rate based on our SLSN sample. We find that the three identified SLSNe from SNLS give a rate of | $91^{+76}_{-36}$ | SNe yr−1 Gpc−3 at a volume-weighted redshift of z = 1.13. This is equivalent to 2.2| $^{+1.8}_{-0.9}\times 10^{-4}$ | of the volumetric core-collapse supernova rate at the same redshift. When combined with other rate measurements from the literature, we show that the rate of SLSNe increases with redshift in a manner consistent with that of the cosmic star formation history. We also estimate the rate of ultra-long gamma-ray bursts based on the events discovered by the Swift satellite, and show that it is comparable to the rate of SLSNe, providing further evidence of a possible connection between these two classes of events. We also examine the host galaxies of the SLSNe discovered in SNLS, and find them to be consistent with the stellar-mass distribution of other published samples of SLSNe.

KW - surveys

KW - supernovae: general

KW - Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

KW - Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stw1942

DO - 10.1093/mnras/stw1942

M3 - Journal article

VL - 464

SP - 3568

EP - 3579

JO - MNRAS

JF - MNRAS

IS - 3

ER -