Models of Millimeter and Radio Emission from Interacting Supernovae

We present models of synchrotron-powered millimeter and radio light curves of core-collapse supernovae in dense circumstellar environments, namely type IIn and Ibn. The progenitor types of these supernovae are still an open question, but using the synchrotron light curves as probes for the circumstellar environments could shed light on the mass-loss histories of the progenitors and discern between different theories. Observations in millimeter bands are particularly fruitful, as they probe regions at smaller radii and higher ambient densities, where centimeter emission is difficult to observe. In our modelling, we explore a diversity of progenitor types and mass-loss profiles, and generally find that non-steady mass-loss is capable of producing luminous millimeter and radio emission even in low explosion energy systems. We demonstrate the use of our model on the 8 GHz light curve of type IIn supernova 2006jd by fitting model parameters, and show the possibility of detecting an early millimeter peak from such an event. We predict that next generation millimeter surveys will possess the capability to detect nearby and extreme events but argue for the pressing need for millimeter follow-up of optically discovered interacting supernovae to more completely sample the true population