SNe Ia as a cosmological probe

Abstract

Type Ia supernovae luminosities can be corrected to render them useful as standard candles able to probe the expansion history of the universe. This technique was successful applied to discover the present acceleration of the universe. As the number of SNe Ia observed at high redshift increases and analysis techniques are perfected, people aim to use this technique to probe the equation of state of the dark energy. Nevertheless, the nature of SNe Ia progenitors remains controversial and concerns persist about possible evolution effects that may be larger and harder to characterize than the more obvious statistical uncertainties.