USING SPATIAL DISTRIBUTIONS TO CONSTRAIN PROGENITORS OF SUPERNOVAE AND GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

We carry out a comprehensive theoretical examination of the relationship between the spatial distribution of optical transients and the properties of their progenitor stars. By constructing analytic models of star-forming galaxies and the evolution of stellar populations within them, we are able to place constraints on candidate progenitors for core-collapse supernovae (SNe), long-duration gamma-ray bursts, and SNe Ia. In particular, we first construct models of spiral galaxies that reproduce observations of core-collapse SNe, and we use these models to constrain the minimum mass for SNe Ic progenitors to approximate to 25 M-circle dot. Second, we lay out the parameters of a dwarf irregular galaxy model, which we use to show that the progenitors of long-duration gamma-ray bursts are likely to have masses above approximate to 43 M-circle dot. Finally, we introduce a new method for constraining the timescale associated with SNe Ia and apply it to our spiral galaxy models to show how observations can better be analyzed to discriminate between the leading progenitor models for these objects.