近日，美国加州大学圣芭芭拉分校Joseph R. Farah团队报道了冷泽-提尔苓进动磁星引擎驱动一颗超亮超新星。相关论文发表在2026年3月11日出版的《自然》杂志上。

I型超亮超新星（SLSNe-I）的亮度至少比标准超新星高一个数量级，但其光度能量来源尚不明确。现有理论认为磁星可能是SLSNe-I的中心能源机制，但多数SLSNe-I光变曲线呈现的多个隆起现象无法用标准磁星模型解释。目前对这些隆起的解释要么需要调节中心引擎的光度，要么涉及与星周物质的相互作用。针对有限样本的SLSN-I光变曲线研究并未发现支持任一模型的决定性证据，使得光变波动机制与磁星模型的适用性均悬而未决。

研究组报道了具有清晰"啁啾"（即周期递减）光变曲线隆起的SLSN-I高频率多波段观测数据，这些隆起特征可直接关联到磁星中心引擎的物理属性。该观测结果与一颗磁星一致，磁星位于膨胀的超新星喷出物的中心，周围是一个正在经历冷泽-提尔苓进动的吸积盘。

该分析表明，光变曲线与隆起频率可独立且自洽地将磁星自转周期约束为P=4.2±0.2毫秒，磁场强度约束为B=(1.6±0.1)×10¹⁴高斯。这些结果首次为磁星环境中的冷泽-提尔苓效应提供了观测证据，并证实磁星自转减慢模型可解释SLSNe-I观测到的极端光度。预计这项发现将为在年轻超新星剧烈核心这一新领域检验广义相对论开辟新途径。

附：英文原文

Title: Lense–Thirring precessing magnetar engine drives a superluminous supernova

Author: Farah, Joseph R., Prust, Logan J., Howell, D. Andrew, Ni, Yuan Qi, McCully, Curtis, Andrews, Moira, Kumar, Harsh, Hiramatsu, Daichi, Gomez, Sebastian, Wynn, Kathryn, Filippenko, Alexei V., Bostroem, K. Azalee, Berger, Edo, Blanchard, Peter

Issue&Volume: 2026-03-11

Abstract: Type I superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) are at least an order of magnitude brighter than standard SNe, with the power source for their luminosity still unknown1,2,3. The central engines of SLSNe-I are suggested to be magnetars4,5 but most of the SLSNe-I light curves have several bumps that are unexplained by the standard magnetar model6,7,8. Existing explanations for the bumps either modulate the engine luminosity or invoke interactions with circumstellar material (CSM). Surveys of the limited sample of SLSN-I light curves find no compelling evidence favouring either scenario7,9, leaving both the nature of the light-curve fluctuations and the applicability of the magnetar model unresolved. Here we report high-cadence multiband observations of a SLSN-I with clear ‘chirped’ (that is, decreasing period) light-curve bumps that can be directly linked to the properties of the magnetar central engine. Our observations are consistent with a magnetar centrally located within the expanding supernova ejecta, surrounded by an infalling accretion disk undergoing Lense–Thirring precession. Our analysis demonstrates that the light curve and bump frequency independently and self-consistently constrain the magnetar spin period to P=4.2±0.2ms and the magnetic-field strength to B=(1.6±0.1)×1014G. These results provide the first observational evidence of the Lense–Thirring effect in the environment of a magnetar and confirm the magnetar spin-down model as an explanation for the extreme luminosity observed in SLSNe-I. We anticipate that this discovery will create avenues for testing general relativity in a new regime—the violent centres of young SNe.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10151-0

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10151-0