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E. Baron, D. Branch, R. Thomas (U. Oklahoma), P. Hauschildt (U. Georgia)
We discuss the exciting potential for using Type II supernova spectra and photometry expected to be obtained with the proposed SNAP satellite for determining cosmological parameters. Type II supernovae provide an independent route to obtaining luminosity distances from that of Type Ia supernovae, using most of the same photometry and spectroscopy measurements that will be obtained by SNAP for the Type Ia supernovae. The Type II method will allow us to derive cosmological parameters based on completely different physics from that of the Type Ia supernovae. Since the physics of a Type II supernova atmosphere involves predominantly hydrogen and helium, evolutionary effects (such as metallicity variations) can in fact be determined from comparison of detailed models and observed spectra. Recent advances in computational power allow us to determine the model parameters to higher accuracy than was previously possible. We contrast the constraints on measurement systematics using Type II and Type Ia supernovae as cosmological probes and show that both supernova types should be aggressively pursued.
This research has been supported in part by the NSF, NASA, the U.S. DOE, the IBM Corporation, and Research Systems Inc.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: baron@mail.nhn.ou.edu