Welcome to the webpage of the “New advances in NIR type Ia supernova science” workshop funded by a grant from the Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology Center (PITT-PACC).

Rationale

Optical observations of SNe Ia have been widely used in the last decades to measure cosmological distances, and have been key in measuring the Hubble constant and demonstratibg cosmic acceleration. In recent years, the literature sample of optical SN Ia at cosmological distances has grown substantially, and at this point statistical errors are comparable to systematic uncertainties. Further improvement in reducing these systematic errors would require a much better understanding of the physical model of the explosion, which is still incomplete, a direct observational constraint on which kind of progenitors can produce SNe Ia, which is still lacking, as well as a better control of reddening effects due to interstellar and/or circumstellar dust.

Increasing evidence suggests that SNIa are very nearly ‘natural’ standard candles at NIR wavelengths, even before correction for light-curve shape or reddening, yielding more precise distance estimates to their host galaxies than optical data alone. Compared to the optical, SNe Ia in the NIR are both better standard candles (σ_H ∼0.12 mag), and relatively immune to the effects of extinction and reddening by dust (extinction corrections are by a factor of 4-6 smaller than in the optical). However, SNe Ia cosmology in the NIR is still poorly developed compared to the optical, since current efforts are focused on increasing the number of objects and are constrained to low redshifts (z<0.2).

Because dust and color are the biggest topic of debate, discussion, and confusion in SNe Ia today reducing sensitivity to dust is a significant gain in the power of luminosity-distance measurements to constraint the dark energy equation-of-state parameter. This 3-day workshop will bring together the latest observational groups in Type Ia supernovae in the near infrared along with theorists and modelers working actively in this field to best understand and exploit the new data and insights to tackle the biggest systematic uncertainty in Type Ia supernova cosmology. It will be very timely to discuss how to extract the best science out of the data sets and how to ensure consistent calibration and agreement across the datasets, and discuss about on-going analyses, unexplained issues, and future plans regarding SN Ia cosmology in the NIR.

Venue

The workshop will be held at the University Club on the University of Pittsburgh campus, address: 123 University Pl, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.

Hotel:

We have arranged for a block of rooms at the Wyndham University Center Pittsburgh, just two blocks from the meeting location, for the nights of 04/10-04/13. Those wishing to book after registration for the conference has been confirmed, do not contact the hotel directly. Instead, please email Cindy Cercone at cmc138(at)pitt(dot)edu with which nights you wish to reserve. She will make reservations and send you a confirmation number with the hotel, along with further travel details. The discounted room rate is $145+tax.

Getting to the Hotel/University Club:

There are several options for reaching the Hotel from the Pittsburgh International Airport. A taxi should cost ~$50-60, while Uber or Lyft should be ~$30-40. Super Shuttle is ~$25 for a shared ride van. There is a Port Authority bus line from the airport with stops near the hotel, the 28X (link) that runs every half hour from 5:30 am to midnight. The fare is only $3.75, though the trip will take slightly longer than an hour. Exit the bus at Forbes and Schenley Drive (by a large Diplodocus dinosaur statue), the Wyndham hotel is then on the opposite side of the Cathedral of Learning, the 42-story building at the center of Pitt’s campus.

Participants

Program

We will have time for introductory talks (25’ + 5’), discussion on walking excursions.

  Wednesday April 11th     Thursday April 12th     Friday April 13th
08:45-09:00 Breakfast   08:45-09:00 Breakfast   08:45-09:00 Breakfast
09:00-09:15 Welcome/introduction   09:00-09:30 C. Burns   09:00-09:30 E. Hsiao
09:15-09:45 M. Phillips   09:30-10:00 A. Avelino   09:30-10:00 T. Diamond
09:45-10:15 K. Ponder   10:00-10:30 K. Mandel   10:00-10:30 Discussion
10:15-10:45 Avelino/Mandel   10:30-10:45 Coffee   10:30-10:45 coffee
10:45-11:00 Coffee   10:45-11:15 S. Dhawan   10:45-11:15 M. Stritzinger
11:00-12:00 Discussion   11:15-12:00 Discussion   11:15-12:00 Discussion
12:00-13:15 Lunch   12:00-13:00 Lunch   12:00-13:00 Public talk + Lunch
13:15-13:45 P. Hoeflich   13:00-13:30 M. Bulla   13:00-13:30 G. Narayan
13:45-14:15 J. Hillier   13:30-14:00 C. Harris   13:30-13:55 Discussion
14:15-15:00 Discussion   14:00-14:30 L. Galbany   13:55-14:05 coffee
15:00-15:15 Coffee   14:30-15:15 Discussion   14:05-14:30 T. Temim
15:15-16:30 WWE   15:15-15:30 coffee   14:30-15:00 A. Rest
16:30-17:00 Discussion   15:30-16:30 WWE   15:00-15:30 R. Hounsell
      16:30-17:00 Discussion   15:30-16:30 Discussion
            16:30-17:00 Closure
19:00- Workshop dinner            

Talks:

1 Surveys/Obs. outlook:

2 Theory/Simulation/What modellers need?

3 Standardization/LC-fitter Optical+NIR:

4 Dust/Intrinsic color:

5 Spectroscopy

6 Peculiar SNeIa

7 NIR calibration

8 Technical capabilities/Future surveys

General discussion

Committees

LOC (alph.)

Lluís Galbany (U. Pittsburgh), W. Michael Wood-Vasey (U. Pittsburgh)

SOC (alph.)

Lluís Galbany (U. Pittsburgh), John Hillier (U. Pittsburgh), Eric Hsiao (Florida State U.), Kasey Mandel (U. Cambridge), Kara Ponder (BCCP), Armin Rest (STScI), W. Michael Wood-Vasey (U. Pittsburgh)

Contact

cmc138(at)pitt(dot)edu

llgalbany(at)pitt(dot)edu