Variability of Late-time Radio Emission in the Superluminous Supernova PTF10hgi

We report the time variability of the late-time radio emission in a Type I superluminous supernova (SLSN), PTF10hgi, at z = 0.0987. The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array 3 GHz observations at 8.6 and 10 yr after the explosion both detected radio emission with a ∼40% decrease in flux density in the second epoch. This is the first report of a significant variability of the late-time radio light curve in an SLSN. Through combination with previous measurements in two other epochs, we constrained both the rise and decay phases of the radio light curve over three years, peaking at approximately 8–9 yr after the explosion with a peak luminosity of L3 GHz = 2 × 1021 W Hz−1. Possible scenarios for the origin of the variability are an active galactic nucleus (AGN) in the host galaxy, an afterglow caused by the interaction between an off-axis jet and circumstellar medium, and a wind nebula powered by a newly born magnetar. Comparisons with models show that the radio light curve can be reproduced by both the afterglow model and magnetar wind nebula model. Considering the flat radio spectrum at 1–15 GHz and an upper limit at 0.6 GHz obtained in previous studies, plausible scenarios are a low-luminosity flat-spectrum AGN or a magnetar wind nebula with a shallow injection spectral index.