New Observational Constraints on Thermonuclear Supernovae

该奖项将支持一项观测计划，以解决热核超新星的一些新的和长期存在的问题。该计划将涉及在早期（爆炸后第一个月左右）和后期（爆炸后6-12个月）用4米和8米级望远镜的光学和近红外光谱仪对附近超新星进行协调观测。为了补充光谱观测，还将使用2米机器人利物浦望远镜获得目标超新星的高节奏（大致每晚）光度光变曲线。这项分析将利用一项正在进行的国际活动中的分光偏振测定法的结果。该方案还将受益于与佛罗里达州立大学正在进行的热核超新星理论和数值工作的密切关系。热核超新星的研究对天体物理学的一些分支都很重要。这些超新星代表了某些低质量双星星星系统演化的最终状态。它们显著影响星际介质的能量平衡和化学演化，并且是在奇异状态下进行核物理的天体物理实验室。它们是宇宙中最明亮的事件之一，并且表现出均匀性，使它们成为测量银河系外距离的首要工具。它们在宇宙加速膨胀的发现中发挥了核心作用，在试图约束暗能量的性质方面也具有关键作用。该项目还将支持正在进行的努力，以建立佛罗里达州立大学（FSU）的天体物理学研究。作为这一努力的一部分，该部门已经推出了一个新的本科专业物理和天体物理学。FSU的本科生人口是多样化的，大约25%的少数民族学生，57%的女性，也包含了第一代大学生的高比例。天体物理学小组希望通过强大的教学和本科生研究机会的结合，包括本项目的研究，吸引这些学生到天体物理学。物理系有着很强的外展传统，积极的项目致力于为K-12学校和现场天文馆提供教育材料。

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.