| Abstract : | Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) are more nearly standard candles when measured in the
near-infrared (NIR) than in the optical. With this motivation, from 2012-2017 we
embarked on the RAISIN (an anagram of SN IA in the NIR) program with the Hubble
Space Telescope to obtain rest-frame NIR light curves for a cosmologically distant
sample of 37 SN Ia (0.2 < z < 0.7) discovered by Pan-STARRS and the Dark Energy
Survey. By comparing higher-z HST data with 43 SN Ia at z < 0.1 observed in the NIR
by the Carnegie Supernova Project, we construct a Hubble diagram exclusively from
NIR observations to pursue a unique avenue to constrain the dark energy equation of
state parameter, w. Combining our NIR sample with Cosmic Microwave Background
(CMB) constraints, we find 1 + w = -0.04 ± 0.12 {ApJ 933, 172 (2022)}.
There will be many opportunities to improve this NIR measurement and better
understand systematic uncertainties through larger low-z samples, new light-curve
models, calibration improvements, and by building large high-z samples from the
Roman Space Telescope. In the long run, the Thirty Meter Telescope, in which India is
a valued partner, will make observations of distant supernovae with unprecedented
sensitivity and resolution. As I will illustrate, TMT with adaptive optics will deliver
images at near infrared wavelengths that are 12 times sharper than Hubble and 4 times
sharper than JWST. This is just one of hundreds of applications where TMT will do
unprecedented science. We need your engagement and imagination to ensure that
TMT achieves its potential. |
