A Search for High-energy Gamma-ray Emission from Superluminous Supernovae

Superluminous Supernovae (SLSNe) are a rare class of supernova with luminosity 100-1000 times greater than standard supernovae. It is still unknown exactly what powers SLSNe, though different models have been proposed for both Type I (hydrogen poor) and Type II (hydrogen rich) SLSNe, such as powering by a central engine or interactions with circumstellar material. Studying emission from these objects can help constrain the models and provide a better understanding of what makes these supernovae so optically bright. This project studied high-energy gamma-ray emission (600 MeV to above 300 GeV) from two SLSNe by performing binned likelihood analyses of data from the Fermi-LAT, in support of a study of the same sources using data from VERITAS in the 200 GeV to 10 TeV energy range. Both SN2015bn and SN2017egm are Type I SLSNe, which are predicted to be powered by a central compact object. No gamma-ray emission was detected from either source in this energy range, but upper limits on flux and luminosity were derived.