No Arabic abstract
It is now established that there is a dependence of the luminosity of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) on environment: SNe Ia in young, star-forming, metal-poor stellar populations appear fainter after light-curve shape corrections than those in older, passive, metal-rich environments. This is accounted for in cosmological studies using a global property of the SN host galaxy, typically the host galaxy stellar mass. However, recent low-redshift studies suggest that this effect manifests itself most strongly when using the local star-formation rate (SFR) at the SN location, rather than the global SFR or stellar mass of the host galaxy. At high-redshift, such local SFRs are difficult to determine; here, we show that an equivalent local correction can be made by restricting the SN Ia sample in globally star-forming host galaxies to a low-mass host galaxy subset ($le10^{10} M_{odot}$). Comparing this sample of SNe Ia (in locally star-forming environments) to those in locally passive host galaxies, we find that SNe Ia in locally star-forming environments are $0.081pm0.018$ mag fainter ($4.5sigma$), consistent with the result reported by Rigault et al. (2015), but our conclusion is based on a sample ~5 times larger over a wider redshift range. This is a larger difference than when splitting the SN Ia sample based on global host galaxy SFR or host galaxy stellar mass. This method can be used in ongoing and future high-redshift SN surveys, where local SN Ia environments are difficult to determine.
As part of an on-going effort to identify, understand and correct for astrophysics biases in the standardization of Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) for cosmology, we have statistically classified a large sample of nearby SNeIa into those located in predominantly younger or older environments. This classification is based on the specific star formation rate measured within a projected distance of 1kpc from each SN location (LsSFR). This is an important refinement compared to using the local star formation rate directly as it provides a normalization for relative numbers of available SN progenitors and is more robust against extinction by dust. We find that the SNeIa in predominantly younger environments are DY=0.163pm0.029 mag (5.7 sigma) fainter than those in predominantly older environments after conventional light-curve standardization. This is the strongest standardized SN Ia brightness systematic connected to host-galaxy environment measured to date. The well-established step in standardized brightnesses between SNeIa in hosts with lower or higher total stellar masses is smaller at DM=0.119pm0.032 mag (4.5 sigma), for the same set of SNeIa. When fit simultaneously, the environment age offset remains very significant, with DY=0.129pm0.032 mag (4.0 sigma), while the global stellar mass step is reduced to DM=0.064pm0.029 mag (2.2 sigma). Thus, approximately 70% of the variance from the stellar mass step is due to an underlying dependence on environment-based progenitor age. Standardization using only the SNeIa in younger environments reduces the total dispersion from 0.142pm0.008 mag to 0.120pm0.010 mag. We show that as environment ages evolve with redshift a strong bias on measurement of the dark energy equation of state parameters can develop. Fortunately, data to measure and correct for this effect is likely to be available for many next-generation experiments. [abstract shorten]
The Supernova Cosmology Project has conducted the `See Change programme, aimed at discovering and observing high-redshift (1.13 $leq$ z $leq$ 1.75) Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). We used multi-filter Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of massive galaxy clusters with sufficient cadence to make the observed SN Ia light curves suitable for a cosmological probe of dark energy at z > 0.5. This See Change sample of SNe Ia with multi-colour light curves will be the largest to date at these redshifts. As part of the See Change programme, we obtained ground-based spectroscopy of each discovered transient and/or its host galaxy. Here we present Very Large Telescope (VLT) spectra of See Change transient host galaxies, deriving their redshifts, and host parameters such as stellar mass and star formation rate. Of the 39 See Change transients/hosts that were observed with the VLT, we successfully determined the redshift for 26, including 15 SNe Ia at z > 0.97. We show that even in passive environments, it is possible to recover secure redshifts for the majority of SN hosts out to z = 1.5. We find that with typical exposure times of 3 - 4 hrs on an 8m-class telescope we can recover ~75% of SN Ia redshifts in the range of 0.97 < z < 1.5. Furthermore, we show that the combination of HST photometry and VLT spectroscopy is able to provide estimates of host galaxy stellar mass that are sufficiently accurate for use in a mass-step correction in the cosmological analysis.
Using a sample of nearby spiral galaxies hosting 185 supernovae (SNe) Ia, we perform a comparative analysis of the locations and light curve decline rates $(Delta m_{15})$ of normal and peculiar SNe Ia in the star formation deserts (SFDs) and beyond. To accomplish this, we present a simple visual classification approach based on the UV/H$alpha$ images of the discs of host galaxies. We demonstrate that, from the perspective of the dynamical timescale of the SFD, where the star formation (SF) is suppressed by the bar evolution, the $Delta m_{15}$ of SN Ia and progenitor age can be related. The SFD phenomenon gives an excellent possibility to separate a subpopulation of SN Ia progenitors with the ages older than a few Gyr. We show, for the first time, that the SFDs contain mostly faster declining SNe Ia $(Delta m_{15} > 1.25)$. For the galaxies without SFDs, the region within the bar radius, and outer disc contain mostly slower declining SNe Ia. To better constrain the delay times of SNe Ia, we encourage new studies (e.g. integral field observations) using the SFD phenomenon on larger and more robust datasets of SNe Ia and their host galaxies.
Brighter type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) prefer less massive hosts with higher star formation. This bias is over-corrected for SNe Ia standardized using the standard Tripp relation, resulting in a step-like dependence of standardized distance on host properties. Using the PISCO supernova host sample and SDSS, GALEX, and 2MASS photometry, we compare host galaxy stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR) estimates from different observation and fitting techniques and their impact on the mass step and sSFR step biases. The step size for FAST++ mass estimates was $-0.04pm0.02$ mag for FAST++ and STARLIGHT, increasing by 0.02 mag for ZPEG. UV information had no effect on measured mass step size or location. Our small sample sizes resulted in all mass step size uncertainties being within 2$sigma$ significance of a zero step due. Regardless, mass step sizes were all consistently within 1$sigma$ of each other. Specific SFR (sSFR) step sizes are $0.05pm0.03$ mag (H$alpha$) and $0.06pm0.03$ mag (UV) for a reduced 51 host sample with SDSS and GALEX coverage, with 50% increase in step size uncertainties. Step location was determined by mass sample used to normalize sSFR. The step size reduces by 0.04 mag with an unconstrained location using all available 73 hosts with H$alpha$ measurements. Despite reduced sample sizes, we find no evidence that observation or fitting technique choice drives mass step measurement, but cannot conclude the same for the sSFR step. Further work will focus on differing star formation epochs and dust attenuation corrections effects on the sSFR bias.
Published B and V fluxes from nearby Type Ia supernovae are fitted to light-curve templates with 4-6 adjustable parameters. Separately, B magnitudes from the same sample are fitted to a linear dependence on B-V color within a post-maximum time window prescribed by the CMAGIC method. These fits yield two independent SN magnitude estimates B_max and B_BV. Their difference varies systematically with decline rate Delta m_15 in a form that is compatible with a bilinear but not a linear dependence; a nonlinear form likely describes the decline-rate dependence of B_max itself. A Hubble fit to the average of B_max and B_BV requires a systematic correction for observed B-V color that can be described by a linear coefficient R = 2.59 +- 0.24, well below the coefficient R_B ~ 4.1 commonly used to characterize the effects of Milky Way dust. At 99.9% confidence the data reject a simple model in which no color correction is required for SNe that are clustered at the blue end of their observed color distribution. After systematic corrections are performed, B_max and B_BV exhibit mutual rms intrinsic variation equal to 0.074 +- 0.019 mag, of which at least an equal share likely belongs to B_BV. SN magnitudes measured using maximum-luminosity or CMAGIC methods show comparable rms deviations of order ~ 0.14 mag from the Hubble line. The same fit also establishes a 95% confidence upper limit of 486 km/s on the rms peculiar velocity of nearby SNe relative to the Hubble flow.