Photometric and Spectroscopic Signatures of Superluminous Supernova Events The puzzling case of ASASSN-15lh

Abstract

Superluminous supernovae are explosions in the sky that far exceed the luminosity of standard supernova events. Their discovery shattered our understanding of stellar evolution and death. Particularly, the discovery of ASASSN-15lh a monstrous event that pushed some of the astrophysical models to the limit and discarded others. In this thesis, I recount the photometric and spectroscopic signatures of superluminous supernovae, while discussing the limitations and advantages of the models brought forward to explain them. I show that a quark nova occurring in the wake of a supernova remnant of an Oxygen-type Wolf-Rayet star can reproduce the light curve, photospheric radius and effective temperature evolution of ASASSN-15lh. This model was used to successfully simulate the spectrum of the event using SYNOW. Beyond being a successful explanation for ASASSN-15lh, the quark nova model is an appealing mechanism to power the most luminous events ever seen in the sky.