Exploring the Observability of Surviving Companions of Stripped-envelope Supernovae: A Case Study of Type Ic SN 2020oi

Stripped-envelope (SE) supernovae (SNe) were considered as the explosions of single massive stars with strong stellar winds, while later observations favor binary origins. One direct piece of evidence to support the binary origins is to find the surviving companions of SE SNe because previous numerical studies suggested that the binary companion should survive the SN impact and could be detectable. Recently, Gagliano et al. reported that the nearby Type Ic SN 2020oi in M100 (similar to 17.1 Mpc) resulted from a binary system based on the Hubble Space Telescope photometric and spectroscopic observation. Based on the suggested binary properties of SN 2020oi, we conduct 2D hydrodynamics simulations of SN-companion interactions and the subsequent post-impact evolution of the companion. Our results suggest that a surviving companion becomes brighter in 2 orders of magnitude and temporarily redder after the SN impact. The companion might be detectable with the JWST NIRCam short-wavelength channel in a few years. Furthermore, the predicted magnitudes of surviving companions show a significant magnitude gradient around the peak. This could be another indicator to identify the surviving companion from an SE SN.