New Observational Constraints on Thermonuclear Supernovae

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This award will support an observational program to address a number of new and long-standing problems of thermonuclear supernovae. This program will involve the coordinated observation of nearby supernovae with optical and near-infrared spectrographs on 4m and 8m class telescopes at both early times (first month or so after explosion) and at late epochs (6-12 months after explosion). To complement the spectral observations, high-cadence (roughly nightly) photometric light curves of the target supernovae will also be obtained using the 2m robotic Liverpool Telescope. The analysis will make use of results from optical spectropolarimetry in an ongoing international campaign. The program will also benefit from a close relationship with theoretical and numerical work on thermonuclear supernovae being conducted at Florida State University.The study of thermonuclear supernovae is important to a number of branches of astrophysics. These supernovae represent the end state of the evolution of certain low-mass binary star systems. They significantly affect the energy balance and chemical evolution of the interstellar medium, and are astrophysical laboratories for nuclear physics in exotic regimes. They are among the brightest events in the universe, and exhibit a homogeneity that makes them the premier tools for measuring extragalactic distances. They have played a central role in the discovery of the acceleration of the expansion of the universe and have a key role in attempts to constrain the nature of dark energy.This project will also support ongoing efforts to build astrophysics research at Florida State University (FSU). As a part of this effort, the department has launched a new undergraduate major in Physics and Astrophysics. The undergraduate population of FSU is diverse, roughly 25% minority students, 57% women, and also containing a high proportion of first generation college students. The astrophysics group hopes to attract these students to astrophysics through a combination of strong teaching and undergraduate research opportunities, including research in this project. The physics department has a strong tradition of outreach with active programs working to provide educational materials to K-12 schools and an on-site planetarium.