James Webb Space Telescope Feed Post
Harvard ADS: Type Ia Supernovae From The First Generation Stars
Paper abstract: Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) discovered at redshift z<~2.5 are presumed to be produced from Population (Pop) I/II stars. {In this work, we investigate the production of SNe Ia from Pop III binaries in the cosmological framework. We derive the SN Ia rate as a function of redshift under a theoretical context for the production of first generation stars and emanate the likelihood of their detection by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).} {Assuming the initial stellar mass function (IMF) favors low-mass stars as from recent numerical simulations, we found Pop III stars may give rise to a considerable amount of SNe Ia at high redshift and Pop III stars may even be the dominant SN Ia producer at z \gtrsim 6.} {In an optimistic scenario, we expect ~ 1(2) SNe Ia from Pop III stars at z~ 4(5) for a survey of area 300 \;\rm arcmin^2 during a 3\;\rm yr period with JWST. The same survey may record more than ~ 400 SNe Ia at lower redshift (z<~ 2.5) but with only about one of them from Pop III progenitors. There will be ~ 6 Pop III SNe Ia in the same field of view at redshifts of 5-10.} Observational constraints on SN Ia rates at the redshift range of 5-10 can place crucial constraints on the IMF of Pop III stars.