Cosmic Chandlery with Thermonuclear Supernovae

TL;DR

This paper investigates how properties of host galaxies influence the brightness of Type Ia supernovae through simulations, aiming to improve their reliability as cosmological distance indicators.

Contribution

It introduces simulation results exploring the effects of age and metallicity on supernova brightness within the single-degenerate paradigm and compares them with observed data.

Findings

Brightness varies with host galaxy properties such as age and metallicity.

Hybrid progenitor models show promising alignment with observed supernova variations.

Results suggest systematic effects can be better understood to reduce uncertainties in cosmology.

Abstract

Thermonuclear (Type Ia) supernovae are bright stellar explosions, the light curves of which can be calibrated to allow for use as "standard candles" for measuring cosmological distances. Contemporary research investigates how the brightness of an event may be influenced by properties of the progenitor system that follow from properties of the host galaxy such as composition and age. The goals are to better understand systematic effects and to assess the intrinsic scatter in the brightness, thereby reducing uncertainties in cosmological studies. We present the results from ensembles of simulations in the single-degenerate paradigm addressing the influence of age and metallicity on the brightness of an event and compare our results to observed variations of brightness that correlate with properties of the host galaxy. We also present results from "hybrid" progenitor models that incorporate recent advances in stellar evolution.