P. Nugent

Improved cosmological constraints from new, old, and combined supernova data sets

We present a new compilation of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), a new data set of low-redshift nearby-Hubble-flow SNe, and new analysis procedures to work with these heterogeneous compilations. This Union compilation of 414 SNe Ia, which reduces to 307 SNe after selection cuts, includes the recent large samples of SNe Ia from the Supernova Legacy Survey and ESSENCE Survey, the older data sets, as well as the recently extended data set of distant supernovae observed with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). A single, consistent, and blind analysis procedure is used for all the various SN Ia subsamples, and a new procedure is implemented that consistently weights the heterogeneous data sets and rejects outliers. We present the latest results from this Union compilation and discuss the cosmological constraints from this new compilation and its combination with other cosmological measurements (CMB and BAO). The constraint we obtain from supernovae on the dark energy density is Ω_Λ = 0.713^(+0.027)_(−0.029)(stat)^(+ 0.036)_(−0.039)(sys), for a flat, ΛCDM universe. Assuming a constant equation of state parameter, w, the combined constraints from SNe, BAO, and CMB give w = − 0.969^(+ 0.059)_(−0.063)(stat)^(+ 0.063)_(−0.066)(sys) . While our results are consistent with a cosmological constant, we obtain only relatively weak constraints on a w that varies with redshift. In particular, the current SN data do not yet significantly constrain w at z > 1. With the addition of our new nearby Hubble-flow SNe Ia, these resulting cosmological constraints are currently the tightest available.

Hydrogen-poor superluminous stellar explosions

Supernovae are stellar explosions driven by gravitational or thermonuclear energy that is observed as electromagnetic radiation emitted over weeks or more. In all known supernovae, this radiation comes from internal energy deposited in the outflowing ejecta by one or more of the following processes: radioactive decay of freshly synthesized elements (typically 56Ni), the explosion shock in the envelope of a supergiant star, and interaction between the debris and slowly moving, hydrogen-rich circumstellar material. Here we report observations of a class of luminous supernovae whose properties cannot be explained by any of these processes. The class includes four new supernovae that we have discovered and two previously unexplained events (SN 2005ap and SCP 06F6) that we can now identify as members of the same class. These supernovae are all about ten times brighter than most type Ia supernova, do not show any trace of hydrogen, emit significant ultraviolet flux for extended periods of time and have late-time decay rates that are inconsistent with radioactivity. Our data require that the observed radiation be emitted by hydrogen-free material distributed over a large radius (∼1015 centimetres) and expanding at high speeds (>104 kilometres per second). These long-lived, ultraviolet-luminous events can be observed out to redshifts zu2009>u20094.

New Constraints on ΩM, ΩΛ, and w from an Independent Set of 11 High-Redshift Supernovae Observed with the Hubble Space Telescope*

We report measurements of

NEARBY SUPERNOVA FACTORY OBSERVATIONS OF SN 2007if: FIRST TOTAL MASS MEASUREMENT OF A SUPER-CHANDRASEKHAR-MASS PROGENITOR

Omega_M

Nearby Supernova Factory Observations of SN 2005gj: Another Type Ia Supernova in a Massive Circumstellar Envelope.

,

Discovery of the nearby long, soft GRB 100316D with an associated supernova

Omega_Lambda

Discovery of the nearby long, soft GRB100316D with an associated supernova

, and w from eleven supernovae at z=0.36-0.86 with high-quality lightcurves measured using WFPC-2 on the HST. This is an independent set of high-redshift supernovae that confirms previous supernova evidence for an accelerating Universe. Combined with earlier Supernova Cosmology Project data, the new supernovae yield a flat-universe measurement of the mass density

Constraining type Ia supernova models: SN 2011fe as A test case

Omega_M=0.25^{+0.07}_{-0.06}

Verifying the Cosmological Utility of Type Ia Supernovae: Implications of a Dispersion in the Ultraviolet Spectra

(statistical)

An outburst from a massive star 40 days before a supernova explosion

pm0.04