Cosmic Rays from Pair-Instability Supernova Remnants

Abstract

Pair-instability supernovae are the most energetic thermonuclear explosions in the Universe, up to 100 times more energetic than type Ia supernovae. Around redshift z > 6 approximately one out of ten supernovae was a pair-instability supernova, in the local universe, however, this number is drastically reduced to less than one out of ten thousand. In this thesis we look at progenitors both among the first generation of stars and in the local universe. We determine the dynamical evolution of the supernova blast wave propagating through the interstellar medium. The maximum energy a cosmic ray proton can be accelerated to in the supernova remnant is then found to be 4e15 eV, for a mean magnetic field of 100 μG parallel to the shock front. Lastly, the proton and neutrino flux for a Pop III pair-instability supernova is estimated. The diffuse neutrino flux for PI SNe is found to be a sub-dominant contribution to the observed flux.