Supernova Interaction with a Dense Detached Shell in SN 2001em

We carry out a comprehensive analysis of supernova SN 2001em covering a period of 19 yr since discovery. SN 2001em is the oldest supernova known to have undergone a metamorphosis from a stripped envelope to an interacting supernova. An early spectrum indicates it exploded as a Type Ib supernova. Later, the ejecta caught up with a dense circumstellar H-shell, ejected a few thousand years before the explosion, triggering interaction between the supernova ejecta and the dense shell, producing radio, X-ray, and H alpha emission. We use archival data with the Very Large Array in radio bands and with Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Swift-XRT in X-ray bands, along with published H alpha measurements. We combine these data with our low radio frequency observations with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at two epochs covering three frequencies. While the observations missed the phase when the shock entered the dense shell, the X-rays indicate that the shock came out of the dense shell at around 1750 days. The data suggest a forward shock origin of the X-ray emission. Radio data show a spectral inversion at late epochs (>5000 days) at around 3 GHz, which mimics the properties of the central absorbed component seen in SN 1986J. A possible explanation for this component is that the progenitor of SN 2001em was a massive binary system that had undergone a period of common-envelope evolution. The hydrogen envelope from the SN 2001em progenitor may have been lost as a result of binary interaction.