TWO SUPERLUMINOUS SUPERNOVAE FROM THE EARLY UNIVERSE DISCOVERED BY THE SUPERNOVA LEGACY SURVEY

We present spectra and light curves of SNLS 06D4eu and SNLS 07D2bv, two hydrogen-free superluminous supernovae (SNe) discovered by the Supernova Legacy Survey. At z = 1.588, SNLS 06D4eu is the highest redshift superluminous SN with a spectrum, at M-U = -22.7 it is one of the most luminous SNe ever observed, and it gives a rare glimpse into the rest-frame ultraviolet where these SNe put out their peak energy. SNLS 07D2bv does not have a host galaxy redshift, but on the basis of the SN spectrum, we estimate it to be at z similar to 1.5. Both SNe have similar observer-frame griz light curves, which map to rest-frame light curves in the U band and UV, rising in similar to 20 rest-frame days or longer and declining over a similar timescale. The light curves peak in the shortest wavelengths first, consistent with an expanding blackbody starting near 15,000 K and steadily declining in temperature. We compare the spectra with theoretical models, and we identify lines of C II, C III, Fe III, and Mg II in the spectra of SNLS 06D4eu and SCP 06F6 and find that they are consistent with an expanding explosion of only a few solar masses of carbon, oxygen, and other trace metals. Thus, the progenitors appear to be related to those suspected for SNe Ic. A high kinetic energy, 10(52) erg, is also favored. Normal mechanisms of powering core-collapse or thermonuclear SNe do not seem to work for these SNe. We consider models powered by Ni-56 decay and interaction with circumstellar material, but we find that the creation and spin-down of a magnetar with a period of 2 ms, a magnetic field of 2 x 10(14) G, and a 3 M-circle dot progenitor provides the best fit to the data.