Probing the Low-mass End of Core-collapse Supernovae Using a Sample of Strongly-stripped Calcium-rich Type IIb Supernovae from the Zwicky Transient Facility

The fate of stars in the zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) range ≈8–12 M ⊙ is unclear. They could evolve to form white dwarfs or explode as electron-capture supernovae (SNe) or iron core-collapse SNe (CCSNe). Even though the initial mass function indicates that this mass range should account for over 40% of all CCSN progenitors, few have been observationally confirmed, likely due to the faintness and rapid evolution of some of these transients. In this paper, we present a sample of nine Ca-rich/O-poor Type IIb SNe detected by the Zwicky Transient Facility with progenitors likely in this mass range. These sources have a [Ca ii ] λ λ 7291, 7324/[O i ] λ λ 6300, 6364 flux ratio of ≳2 in their nebular spectra. Comparing the measured [O i ] luminosity (≲10 39 erg s −1 ) and derived oxygen mass (≈0.01 M ⊙ ) with theoretical models, we infer that the progenitor ZAMS mass for these explosions is less than 12 M ⊙ . The ejecta properties ( M ej ≲ 1 M ⊙ and E kin ∼ 10 50 erg) are also consistent. The low ejecta mass of these sources indicates a class of strongly-stripped SNe that is a transition between the regular stripped-envelope SNe and ultra-stripped SNe. The progenitor could be stripped by a main-sequence companion and result in the formation of a neutron star−main sequence binary. Such binaries have been suggested to be progenitors of neutron star−white dwarf systems that could merge within a Hubble time and be detectable with LISA.