SIMBAD references

Pair-instability supernovae (PISNe) may signal the deaths of extremely massive stars in the local Universe or massive primordial stars after the end of the Cosmic Dark Ages. Hydrodynamic simulations of these explosions, performed in 1D, 2D, and 3D geometry, have revealed the strong dependence of mixing in the PISN ejecta on dimensionality. This chemical rearrangement is mainly driven by Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities that start to grow shortly after the collapse of the carbon-oxygen core. We investigate the effects of such mixing on the spectroscopic evolution of PISNe by post-processing explosion profiles with the radiation diffusion-equilibrium code SNEC and the implicit Monte Carlo-discrete diffusion Monte Carlo radiation transport code SuperNu. The first 3D radiation transport calculation of a PISN explosion is presented, yielding viewing-angle-dependent synthetic spectra and light curves. We find that while 2D and 3D mixing does not significantly affect the light curves of PISNe, their spectroscopic and color evolution are impacted. Strong features of intermediate-mass elements dominated by silicon, magnesium, and oxygen appear at different phases and reach different intensities depending on the extent of mixing in the silicon/oxygen interface of the PISN ejecta. On the other hand, we do not find a significant dependence of PISN light curves and spectra on viewing angle. Our results showcase the capabilities of SuperNu to handle 3D radiation transport and highlight the importance of modeling time series of spectra in identifying PISNe with future missions.