Related papers: Learning from the Scatter in Type Ia Supernovae
The gravitational lensing magnification or demagnification due to large-scale structures induces a scatter in peak magnitudes of high redshift type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). The amplitude of the lensing dispersion strongly depends on that of…
Soon the number of type Ia supernova (SN) measurements should exceed 100,000. Understanding the effect of weak lensing by matter structures on the supernova brightness will then be more important than ever. Although SN lensing is usually…
We investigate the possibility of correcting for the magnification due to gravitational lensing of standard candle sources, such as Type Ia supernovae. Our method uses the observed properties of the foreground galaxies along the…
The dispersion in the peak luminosities of high redshift type Ia supernovae will change with redshift due to gravitational lensing. This lensing is investigated with an emphasis on the prospects of measuring it and separating it from other…
We propose a method to remove the mass sheet degeneracy that arises when the mass of galaxy clusters is inferred from gravitational shear. The method utilizes high-redshift standard candles that undergo weak lensing. Natural candidates for…
Using three magnified Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) detected behind CLASH clusters, we perform a first pilot study to see whether standardizable candles can be used to calibrate cluster mass maps created from strong lensing observations. Such…
I present an analysis for fitting cosmological parameters from a Hubble Diagram of a standard candle with unknown intrinsic magnitude dispersion. The dispersion is determined from the data themselves, simultaneously with the cosmological…
Observation of the expansion history of the Universe allows exploration of the physical properties and energy density of the Universe's various constituents. Standardizable candles such as Type Ia supernovae remain one of the most promising…
Type Ia supernovae result when carbon-oxygen white dwarfs in binary systems accrete mass from companion stars, reach a critical mass, and explode. The near uniformity of their light curves makes these supernovae good standard candles for…
Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) are the best standard candles known today. At high redshift ($z\sim1$) SNe Ia are used to determine the Cosmological Constant Lambda with great success. However the most serious concern is raised by thepossible…
We describe a new formalism to fit the parameters $\alpha$ and $\beta$ that are used in the SALT2 model to determine the standard magnitudes of Type Ia supernovae. The new formalism describes the intrinsic scatter in Type Ia supernovae by a…
Past analyses of Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) have identified an irreducible scatter of 5-10% in distance widely attributed to an intrinsic dispersion in luminosity. Another, equally valid, source of this scatter is intrinsic dispersion in…
The Hubble diagrams in B, V, and I of a complete sample of 35 SNeIa with (B-V) < 0.06 and 1200 < v < 30000 kms^{-1} have a scatter of only 0.1 mag, after small corrections are applied for differences in decline rate Delta m_{15} and color…
Empirically, Type Ia supernovae are the most useful, precise, and mature tools for determining astronomical distances. Acting as calibrated candles they revealed the presence of dark energy and are being used to measure its properties.…
An explanation is given of the low value of $R_\lambda \equiv A_\lambda/E(B-V) $, the ratio of absolute to selective extinction deduced from Type Ia supernova observations. The idea involves scattering by dust clouds located in the…
Observations of high-redshift Type Ia supernovae (SNe~Ia) are used to study the cosmic transparency at optical wavelengths. Assuming a flat $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model based on BAO and CMB results, redshift dependent deviations of SN~Ia…
Weak lensing of high-redshift Type Ia supernovae induces an external dispersion in their observed standard candle brightnesses, comparable in magnitude to the intrinsic dispersion for redshifts z>1. The same matter fluctuations responsible…
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) have been used as excellent standardizable candles for measuring cosmic expansion, but their progenitors are still elusive. Here we report that the spectral diversity of SNe Ia is tied to their birthplace…
On-going projects to discover Type Ia supernovae at redshifts z = 0.3 - 1, coupled with improved techniques to narrow the dispersion in SN Ia peak magnitudes, have renewed the prospects for determining the cosmic deceleration parameter q_0.…
Supernova Ia magnitude surveys measure the dimensionless luminosity distance $H_{0}D_{L}$. However, from the distances alone one cannot obtain quantities like $H(z)$ or the dark energy equation of state, unless further cosmological…