THE TYPE IIb SUPERNOVA 2011dh FROM A SUPERGIANT PROGENITOR

A set of hydrodynamical models based on stellar evolutionary progenitors is used to study the nature of SN 2011dh. Our modeling suggests that a large progenitor star-with R similar to 200 R-circle dot-is needed to reproduce the early light curve (LC) of SN 2011dh. This is consistent with the suggestion that the yellow super-giant star detected at the location of the supernova (SN) in deep pre-explosion images is the progenitor star. From the main peak of the bolometric LC and expansion velocities, we constrain the mass of the ejecta to be approximate to 2 M-circle dot, the explosion energy to be E = (6-10) x 10(50) erg, and the Ni-56 mass to be approximately 0.06 M-circle dot. The progenitor star was composed of a helium core of 3-4 M-circle dot and a thin hydrogen-rich envelope of approximate to 0.1M(circle dot) with a main-sequence mass estimated to be in the range of 12-15 M-circle dot. Our models rule out progenitors with helium-core masses larger than 8 M-circle dot, which correspond to M-ZAMS greater than or similar to 25M(circle dot). This suggests that a single star evolutionary scenario for SN 2011dh is unlikely.