The Observer’s Guide to the Gamma-Ray Burst Supernova Connection

Figure 10

Late-time bolometric LC of SN 1998bw in filters . Two analytical models have been plotted to match the peak luminosity: a single-zone analytical model for a fiducial SN that is powered by radioactive heating, where  erg, an ejecta mass of , and a nickel mass of , and a curve, which is the expected decay rate for luminosity powered by a magnetar central engine. At late times the decay rate of model provides a much better fit than the decay, which grossly overpredicts the bolometric luminosity at times later than 400 d. This is one line of observational evidence that GRB-SNe are powered by radioactive heating and not via dipole-extracted radiation from a magnetar central engine (i.e., a magnetar-driven SN).