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P. Nugent (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), Supernova Cosmology Project Collaboration
Due to the nature of our high-redshift supernovae search techniques, the Supernova Cosmology Project has been able to map the very early rising portion of the light curve for a Type Ia supernova. Over the past 4 years we have acquired over 100 data points on several supernovae between 30 and 10 days before peak brightness in the restframe B-band light curve. This has provided us with the ability to very accurately define the rise time of a Type Ia supernova. The results from this data have broad implications for both the theoretical modeling and cosmological use of Type Ia supernovae. Theoretically, the rise time provides a very strong constraint on acceptable models, directly influencing nucleosynthesis and opacity calculations as well as the overall luminosity of these objects. From a cosmological standpoint, the early portion of the optical light curve can provide a strong signature for evolution, as differences which might exist between nearby and distant sets of supernovae have the potential for showing the greatest discrepancy at these early times.
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