Supernovae and their Environments

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Supernovae are among the most energetic transient objects in the Universe. They briefly outshine entire galaxies of stars, and are responsible for the formation of almost all of the heavy elements. They dominate the energetics of the interstellar medium. Type Ia supernovae are arguably the most accurate cosmological probes for studying dark energy. In this proposal we will explore the many implications of the recently developed "white dwarf lifetime" model that explains the dependence of supernova rate on star formation rate. We will determine the delay time distribution of supernovae, a function that characterizes and constrains the nature of the stars that ultimately become supernovae. We will also extend our work to Type II supernovae (massive stars undergoing core collapse) in very luminous obscured galaxies known as ULIRGs. We will study the systematics of supernovae in different galaxy environments (clusters, radio galaxies, far infrared emitters). Finally we will improve the calibration of supernovae as distance indicators; this should lead to a better understanding of the nature of the elusive dark energy that dominates the expansion dynamics of the Universe.