The Optical to X-ray Luminosity and Spectrum of Supernova Wind Breakouts

Abstract: Observations indicate that optically thick circum-stellar medium (CSM) at radii of $10^{14}-10^{15}$ cm around core-collapse supernovae (SN) progenitors is common. The breakout of the SN radiation-mediated shock (RMS) through such CSM leads to the formation of a collisionless shock (CLS). We analyze the evolution of the shock structure and associated radiation field during and after the RMS-CLS transition for non-relativistic breakouts (breakout shock velocity $v_{\rm bo}=10^9v_9~{\rm cm/s}<0.1c$) through a hydrogen-rich CSM "wind" density profile, $\rho\propto r^{-2}$, with breakout radius $R_{{\rm bo}}=10^{14}R_{14}$ cm much larger than the progenitor radius. An analytic description of the key properties of the emitted optical to X-ray radiation is provided, supported by numeric radiation-hydrodynamics calculations that self-consistently describe the time-dependent spatial distribution of the plasma and radiation, governed by the interplay between Bremsstrahlung emission/absorption and inelastic Compton scattering. We show that the characteristic energy of the photons carrying most of the luminosity, $\approx10^{43}R_{14}v_9^2$ erg/s, shifts from UV to X-ray, reaching 1 keV as the shock reaches $\approx3R_{\rm bo}$. The X-ray signal is not suppressed by propagation through the upstream wind, and its absence may suggest that the dense CSM does not extend much beyond $R_{\rm bo}$. Our results provide the basis for a quantitative calculation of the high energy $\gamma$-ray and neutrino emission that is expected from particles accelerated at the CLS, and will allow using data from upcoming surveys that will systematically detect large numbers of young SNe, particularly ULTRASAT, to infer the pre-explosion mass loss history of the SN progenitor population.