Physical Properties of the Supernova Remnant Population in the Small
  Magellanic Cloud
  The X-ray emission from a supernova remnant is a powerful diagnostic of the
state of its shocked plasma. The temperature and the emission measure are
related to the energy of the explosion, the age of the remnant, and the density
of the surrounding medium. Here we present the results of a study of the
remnant population of the Small Magellanic Cloud. Progress in X-ray
observations of remnants has resulted in a sample of 20 remnants in the Small
Magellanic Clound with measured temperatures and emission measures. We apply
spherically symmetric supernova remnant evolution models to this set of
remnants, to estimate ages, explosion energies, and circumstellar medium
densities. The distribution of ages yields a remnant birthrate of $\sim$1/1200
yr. The energies and densities are well fit with log-normal distributions, with
means of 1.6$\times10^{51}$ erg and 0.14 cm$^{-3}$, and 1$\sigma$ dispersions
of a factor of 1.87 in energy and 3.06 in density, respectively.
