No Arabic abstract
Accurate standardisation of Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) is instrumental to the usage of SNIa as distance indicators. We analyse a homogeneous sample of 22 low-z SNIa, observed by the Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP) in the optical and near infra-red (NIR). We study the time of the second peak in the NIR band due to re-brightening, t2, as an alternative standardisation parameter of SNIa peak brightness. We use BAHAMAS, a Bayesian hierarchical model for SNIa cosmology, to determine the residual scatter in the Hubble diagram. We find that in the absence of a colour correction, t2 is a better standardisation parameter compared to stretch: t2 has a 1 sigma posterior interval for the Hubble residual scatter of [0.250, 0.257] , compared to [0.280, 0.287] when stretch (x1) alone is used. We demonstrate that when employed together with a colour correction, t2 and stretch lead to similar residual scatter. Using colour, stretch and t2 jointly as standardisation parameters does not result in any further reduction in scatter, suggesting that t2 carries redundant information with respect to stretch and colour. With a much larger SNIa NIR sample at higher redshift in the future, t2 could be a useful quantity to perform robustness checks of the standardisation procedure.
We analyze a set of 89 Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) that have both optical and near-infrared (NIR) photometry to derive distances and construct low redshift ($z < 0.04$) Hubble diagrams. We construct mean light curve (LC) templates using a hierarchical Bayesian model. We explore both Gaussian process (GP) and template methods for fitting the LCs and estimating distances, while including peculiar velocity and photometric uncertainties. For the 56 SN Ia with both optical and NIR observations near maximum light, the GP method yields a NIR-only Hubble-diagram with a RMS of $0.117 pm 0.014$ mag when referenced to the NIR maxima. For each NIR band, a comparable GP method RMS is obtained when referencing to NIR-max or B-max. Using NIR LC templates referenced to B-max yields a larger RMS value of $0.138 pm 0.014$ mag. Fitting the corresponding optical data using standard LC fitters that use LC shape and color corrections yields larger RMS values of $0.179 pm 0.018$ mag with SALT2 and $0.174 pm 0.021$ mag with SNooPy. Applying our GP method to subsets of SN Ia NIR LCs at NIR maximum light, even without corrections for LC shape, color, or host-galaxy dust reddening, provides smaller RMS in the inferred distances, at the $sim 2.3 - 4.1sigma$ level, than standard optical methods that do correct for those effects. Our ongoing RAISIN program on the Hubble Space Telescope will exploit this promising infrared approach to limit systematic errors when measuring the expansion history of the universe to constrain dark energy.
We report near infrared (NIR) spectroscopic observations of twelve ``Branch-normal Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) which cover the wavelength region from 0.8-2.5 microns. Our sample more than doubles the number of SNe Ia with published NIR spectra within three weeks of maximum light. The epochs of observation range from thirteen days before maximum light to eighteen days after maximum light. A detailed model for a Type Ia supernovae is used to identify spectral features. The Doppler shifts of lines are measured to obtain the velocity and, thus, the radial distribution of elements. The NIR is an extremely useful tool to probe the chemical structure in the layers of SNe Ia ejecta. This wavelength region is optimal for examining certain products of the SNe Ia explosion that may be blended or obscured in other spectral regions. We identify spectral features from MgII, CaII, SiII, FeII, CoII, NiII and possibly MnII. We find no indications for hydrogen, helium or carbon in the spectra. The spectral features reveal important clues about the physical characteristics of SNe Ia. We use the features to derive upper limits for the amount of unburned matter, to identify the transition regions from explosive carbon to oxygen burning and from partial to complete silicon burning, and to estimate the level of mixing during and after the explosion.
The most precise local measurements of $H_0$ rely on observations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) coupled with Cepheid distances to SN Ia host galaxies. Recent results have shown tension comparing $H_0$ to the value inferred from CMB observations assuming $Lambda$CDM, making it important to check for potential systematic uncertainties in either approach. To date, precise local $H_0$ measurements have used SN Ia distances based on optical photometry, with corrections for light curve shape and colour. Here, we analyse SNe Ia as standard candles in the near-infrared (NIR), where intrinsic variations in the supernovae and extinction by dust are both reduced relative to the optical. From a combined fit to 9 nearby calibrator SNe with host Cepheid distances from Riess et al. (2016) and 27 SNe in the Hubble flow, we estimate the absolute peak $J$ magnitude $M_J = -18.524;pm;0.041$ mag and $H_0 = 72.8;pm;1.6$ (statistical) $pm$ 2.7 (systematic) km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$. The 2.2 $%$ statistical uncertainty demonstrates that the NIR provides a compelling avenue to measuring SN Ia distances, and for our sample the intrinsic (unmodeled) peak $J$ magnitude scatter is just $sim$0.10 mag, even without light curve shape or colour corrections. Our results do not vary significantly with different sample selection criteria, though photometric calibration in the NIR may be a dominant systematic uncertainty. Our findings suggest that tension in the competing $H_0$ distance ladders is likely not a result of supernova systematics that could be expected to vary between optical and NIR wavelengths, like dust extinction. We anticipate further improvements in $H_0$ with a larger calibrator sample of SNe Ia with Cepheid distances, more Hubble flow SNe Ia with NIR light curves, and better use of the full NIR photometric data set beyond simply the peak $J$-band magnitude.
CfAIR2 is a large homogeneously reduced set of near-infrared (NIR) light curves for Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) obtained with the 1.3m Peters Automated InfraRed Imaging TELescope (PAIRITEL). This data set includes 4607 measurements of 94 SN Ia and 4 additional SN Iax observed from 2005-2011 at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Arizona. CfAIR2 includes JHKs photometric measurements for 88 normal and 6 spectroscopically peculiar SN Ia in the nearby universe, with a median redshift of z~0.021 for the normal SN Ia. CfAIR2 data span the range from -13 days to +127 days from B-band maximum. More than half of the light curves begin before the time of maximum and the coverage typically contains ~13-18 epochs of observation, depending on the filter. We present extensive tests that verify the fidelity of the CfAIR2 data pipeline, including comparison to the excellent data of the Carnegie Supernova Project. CfAIR2 contributes to a firm local anchor for supernova cosmology studies in the NIR. Because SN Ia are more nearly standard candles in the NIR and are less vulnerable to the vexing problems of extinction by dust, CfAIR2 will help the supernova cosmology community develop more precise and accurate extragalactic distance probes to improve our knowledge of cosmological parameters, including dark energy and its potential time variation.
We present ten medium-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio near-infrared (NIR) spectra of SN 2011fe from SpeX on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) and Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph (GNIRS) on Gemini North, obtained as part of the Carnegie Supernova Project. This data set constitutes the earliest time-series NIR spectroscopy of a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia), with the first spectrum obtained at 2.58 days past the explosion and covering -14.6 to +17.3 days relative to B-band maximum. C I {lambda}1.0693 {mu}m is detected in SN 2011fe with increasing strength up to maximum light. The delay in the onset of the NIR C I line demonstrates its potential to be an effective tracer of unprocessed material. For the first time in a SN Ia, the early rapid decline of the Mg II {lambda}1.0927 {mu}m velocity was observed, and the subsequent velocity is remarkably constant. The Mg II velocity during this constant phase locates the inner edge of carbon burning and probes the conditions under which the transition from deflagration to detonation occurs. We show that the Mg II velocity does not correlate with the optical light-curve decline rate {Delta}m15. The prominent break at ~1.5 {mu}m is the main source of concern for NIR k-correction calculations. We demonstrate here that the feature has a uniform time evolution among SNe Ia, with the flux ratio across the break strongly correlated with {Delta}m15. The predictability of the strength and the onset of this feature suggests that the associated k-correction uncertainties can be minimized with improved spectral templates.