Supernova calibration by gravitational wave

TL;DR

This paper proposes using gravitational wave observations to recalibrate Type Ia supernova distances, aiming to resolve the Hubble tension by providing a model-independent measurement of the local Hubble constant.

Contribution

It introduces a method to re-calibrate supernova luminosity distances using gravitational waves, reducing zero-point calibration issues and aiding in resolving the Hubble tension.

Findings

At least 7 SNe Ia are needed for 2% Hubble constant precision.

Re-calibrated SNe Ia provide a model-independent Hubble constant estimate.

Method can potentially resolve the Hubble tension problem.

Abstract

Hubble tension is one of the most important problems in cosmology. Although the local measurements on the Hubble constant with Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are independent of cosmological models, they suffer the problem of zero-point calibration of the luminosity distance. The observations of gravitational waves (GWs) with space-based GW detectors can measure the luminosity distance of the GW source with high precision. By assuming that massive binary black hole mergers and SNe Ia occur in the same host galaxy, we study the possibility of re-calibrating the luminosity distances of SNe Ia by GWs. Then we use low-redshift re-calibrated SNe Ia to determine the local Hubble constant. We find that we need at least 7 SNe Ia with their luminosity distances re-calibrated by GWs to reach a 2\% precision of the local Hubble constant. The value of the local Hubble constant is free from the problems of zero-point calibration and model dependence, so the result can shed light on the Hubble tension.