iPTF16geu through the lens of thermonuclear explosion models

Ana Sainz de Murieta, Mark R. Magee, Tian Li, Thomas E. Collett, Joel Johansson

Published 2025-10-01Version 1

The magnification resulting from strong gravitational lensing is a powerful tool to add new constraints to the cosmic evolution of supernova progenitors by enabling the study of distant supernovae that would otherwise not be observable. iPTF16geu is the most well-observed gravitationally lensed supernova (glSN) to date. At a redshift of $z = 0.409$ and magnified by a factor of $\sim$68, extensive photometric and spectroscopic observations have been obtained. The explosion mechanism producing this rare event and differences compared to lower redshift supernovae however have not been explored in detail. Here we compare observations of iPTF16geu to existing radiative transfer simulations of type Ia supernova explosion models selected from the literature. We find that overall the DDC6 and PDDEL1 models, specific variations of the delayed detonation explosion scenario, produce the closest match to the light curves and many absorption features, but struggle to replicate the observed colours and in particular the rest-frame UV. We also investigate the magnification and reddening values required to improve agreement with the selected models. We find some evidence in favour of a UV flux excess that may be intrinsic to iPTF16geu or due to external factors such as host galaxy subtraction and uncertainties in the reddening law. Upcoming surveys will significantly increase the samples of SNe discovered at high redshifts due to strong gravitational lensing. These glSNe will enable tighter constraints on the explosion physics of type Ia supernovae and how this has evolved throughout the Universe.