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M.S. Turner, D. Huterer (U. Chicago)
The nature of the dark energy is very much unknown. Most of its discernible consequences derive from its effect on evolution of the expansion rate of the Universe, which in turn affects the classical kinematic cosmological tests, and in particular the magnitude-redshift (Hubble) diagram. A sample of several thousand type Ia supernovae with redshifts z\lesssim 1.7, as might be gathered by the proposed SNAP satellite, can serve as an ideal probe of the dark energy. We describe the dark energy by its normalized energy density \OmegaDE and effective equation of state w=p/\rho, which is allowed to vary with time. We determine optimal redshifts at which to look for type Ia supernovae in order to best constrain the dark energy. Considering the SNAP supernova sample, we discuss strategies for measuring \OmegaDE and w(t).