Constraints on the Progenitor Systems of Type Ia Supernovae

UVOIR bolometric light curves provide valuable insight into the nature of type Ia supernovae. We present an analysis of sixteen well-observed SNe Ia. Constraints are placed on several global parameters concerning the progenitor system, explosion mechanism and subsequent radiation transport. By fitting a radioactive decay energy deposition function to the quasi-exponential phase (50 to 100 days after maximum light), it is found that the ejected mass varies by at least a factor of two. This result suggests that a sub-Chandrasekhar mass model could be responsible for the progenitor system of some type Ia supernovae. We find that the range in the amount of synthesized (56)Ni indicates a significant variation in the burning mechanism. In order to explain a factor of ten range in the observed bolometric luminosity more detailed modeling of the explosion mechanism is required.