The Standard Candle Method for Type II-Plateau Supernovae
Abstract
Description
In this thesis we study the "standardized candle method" using a sample of 37 nearby (redshift < 0.06) Type II-plateau supernovae with BVRI photometry and optical spectroscopy. An analytic procedure is implemented to fit light, color, and velocity curves. We find that the V-I color toward the end of the plateau can be used to estimate host-galaxy reddening with a precision of 0.2 mag. The luminosity-expansion velocity relation previously reported in the literature is recovered. Using this relation and assuming a standard reddening law (R_V = 3.1), we obtain Hubble diagrams in the BVI bands with approximate dispersions of 0.4 mag. Allowing R_V to vary and minimizing the spread in the Hubble diagrams, we obtain a dispersion of 0.25-0.30 mag, which implies that these objects can deliver distances with a precision of 12-14 %. The resulting value of R_V is 1.4 +/- 0.1. Using two supernovae with known Cepheid host-galaxy distances, we obtain H_0 = 70 +/- 8 km/s/Mpc, in very good agreement with the average value obtained with other modern, reliable methods.
MSc thesis, Universidad de Chile, 80 pages, 29 figures
MSc thesis, Universidad de Chile, 80 pages, 29 figures