Applying the expanding photosphere and standardized candle methods to Type II-Plateau supernovae at cosmologically significant redshifts: the distance to SN 2013eq

TL;DR

This study compares distance measurement methods for Type II supernovae at significant redshifts, applying and refining the expanding photosphere and standardized candle methods to SN 2013eq, and finds consistent distance estimates.

Contribution

The paper re-derives the EPM equations for high-redshift supernovae and compares it with the standardized candle method, providing refined distance estimates at cosmological scales.

Findings

EPM yields angular and luminosity distances consistent with each other.

Correcting flux and angular size for redshift effects is crucial at z=0.041.

Distance estimates from different methods agree within uncertainties.

Abstract

Based on optical imaging and spectroscopy of the Type II-Plateau SN 2013eq, we present a comparative study of commonly used distance determination methods based on Type II supernovae. The occurrence of SN 2013eq in the Hubble flow (z = 0.041 +/- 0.001) prompted us to investigate the implications of the difference between "angular" and "luminosity" distances within the framework of the expanding photosphere method (EPM) that relies upon a relation between flux and angular size to yield a distance. Following a re-derivation of the basic equations of the EPM for SNe at non-negligible redshifts, we conclude that the EPM results in an angular distance. The observed flux should be converted into the SN rest frame and the angular size, theta, has to be corrected by a factor of (1+z)^2. Alternatively, the EPM angular distance can be converted to a luminosity distance by implementing a modification of the angular size. For SN 2013eq, we find EPM luminosity distances of D_L = 151 +/- 18 Mpc and D_L = 164 +/- 20 Mpc by making use of different sets of dilution factors taken from the literature. Application of the standardized candle method for Type II-P SNe results in an independent luminosity distance estimate (D_L = 168 +/- 16 Mpc) that is consistent with the EPM estimate.