Energetics and Birth Rates of Supernova Remnants in the Large Magellanic Cloud

D. A. Leahy

Published 2016-12-01Version 1

Published X-ray emission properties for a sample of 50 supernova remnants (SNRs) in the LMC are used as input for SNR evolution modelling calculations. The forward shock emission is modelled to obtain the initial explosion energy, age, and circumstellar medium density for each SNR in the sample. The resulting age distribution yields a SNR birthrate of 1/(500 yr) for the LMC. The explosion energy distribution is well fit by a log-normal distribution, with most-probable explosion energy of 0.48x10^{51}erg, with a 1-sigma dispersion by factor 2.94 in energy. The circumstellar medium density distribution is broader than the explosion energy distribution, with most-probable density of ~0.1 cm^{-3}. The shape of the density distribution indicates either a complex density distribution or incompleteness bias in sample.