Millimeter Observations of the Type II SN2023ixf: Constraints on the Proximate Circumstellar Medium

We present 1.3 mm (230 GHz) observations of the recent and nearby Type II supernova, SN2023ixf, obtained with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) at 2.6-18.6 days after explosion. The observations were obtained as part the SMA Large Program POETS (Pursuit of Extragalactic Transients with the SMA). We do not detect any emission at the location of SN2023ixf, with the deepest limits of $L_{\nu }(230\mathrm{G}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z})\lesssim 8.6\times {10}^{25}$ erg s${}^{-1}$ Hz${}^{-1}$ at 2.7 and 7.7 days, and $L_{\nu }(230\mathrm{G}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z})\lesssim 3.4\times {10}^{25}$ erg s${}^{-1}$ Hz${}^{-1}$ at 18.6 days. These limits are about a factor of 2 times dimmer than the mm emission from SN2011dh (IIb), about an order of magnitude dimmer compared to SN1993J (IIb) and SN2018ivc (IIL), and about 30 times dimmer than the most luminous non-relativistic SNe in the mm-band (Type IIb/Ib/Ic). Using these limits in the context of analytical models that include synchrotron self-absorption and free-free absorption we place constraints on the proximate circumstellar medium around the progenitor star, to a scale of $\sim 2\times {10}^{15}$ cm, excluding the range $\dot{M}\sim \mathrm{f}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{w}\times {10}^{-6}-{10}^{-2}$ M${}_{\odot }$ yr${}^{-1}$ (for a wind velocity, $v_w=115$ km s${}^{-1}$, and ejecta velocity, $v_{\mathrm{e}\mathrm{j}\mathrm{e}}\sim (1-2)\times {10}^4$ km s${}^{-1}$). These results are consistent with an inference of the mass loss rate based on optical spectroscopy ($\sim 2\times {10}^{-2}$ M${}_{\odot }$ yr${}^{-1}$ for $v_w=115$ km s${}^{-1}$), but are in tension with the inference from hard X-rays ($\sim 7\times {10}^{-4}$ M${}_{\odot }$ yr${}^{-1}$ for $v_w=115$ km s${}^{-1}$). This tension may be alleviated by a non-homogeneous and confined CSM, consistent with results from high-resolution optical spectroscopy.