Nicholas Borchers with Lawrence Krauss

Efficacy of Ground-based Supernova Searches to Distinguish Between Dark Energy Models

Recent evidence, obtained from measurements of distant type Ia supernovae, indicates that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. A new component called dark energy is presumed to cause this acceleration, and its origin and properties are one of the great mysteries of cosmology. In this project I propose to explore how ground-based measurements of type Ia supernovae can be best used to probe the properties of dark energy. In particular, despite the fact that dark energy models are more easily distinguishable at high redshift, supernova measurements are noisier at high redshift, indicating that nearby (low-redshift) supernovae may be an effective tool to rule out various models.  I will be following up on two previous senior projects.