The rate of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in a galaxy depends not only on stellar mass, but also on star formation history. Here we show that two simple observational quantities (g − r or u − r host galaxy color, and r-band luminosity), coupled with an assumed delay time distribution (the rate of SNe Ia as a function of time for an instantaneous burst of star formation), are sufficient to accurately determine a galaxy's SN Ia rate, with very little sensitivity to the precise details of the star formation history. Using this result, we compare observed and predicted color distributions of SN Ia hosts for the MENeaCS cluster supernova survey, and for the SDSS Stripe 82 supernova survey. The observations are consistent with a continuous delay time distribution (DTD), without any cutoff. For old progenitor systems the power-law slope for the DTD is found to be −1.50 +0.19−0.15 . This result favours the double degenerate scenario for SN Ia, though other interpretations are possible. We find that the late-time slopes of the delay time distribution are different at the 1σ level for low and high stretch supernova, which suggest a single degenerate scenario for the latter. However, due to ambiguity in the current models' DTD predictions, single degenerate progenitors can neither be confirmed as causing high stretch supernovae nor ruled out from contributing to the overall sample.

The delay time distribution of Type Ia supernovae (the time-dependent rate of supernovae resulting from a burst of star formation) has been measured using different techniques and in different environments. Here, we study in detail the distribution for field galaxies, using the SDSS DR7 Stripe 82 supernova sample. We improve a technique we introduced earlier, which is based on galaxy color and luminosity, and is insensitive to details of the star formation history, to include the normalization. Assuming a power-law dependence of the supernova rate with time, DTD(t) = A(t/1 Gyr) s , we find a power-law index s = −1.34 +0.19 −0.17 and a normalization log A = −12.15 +0.10 −0.13 dex(M −1 yr −1 ), corresponding to a number of type Ia supernovae integrated over a Hubble time of P E = 0.004 +0.002 −0.001 M −1 . We also implement a method used by Maoz and collaborators, which is based on star formation history reconstruction, and find that this gives a consistent result for the slope, but a lower, marginally inconsistent normalization. With our normalization, the distribution for field galaxies is made consistent with that derived for cluster galaxies. Comparing the inferred distribution with predictions from different evolutionary scenarios for type Ia supernovae, we find that our results are intermediate between the various predictions and do not yet constraint the evolutionary path leading to SNe Ia.

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia)are generally agreed to arise from thermonuclear explosions of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs. The actual path to explosion, however, remains elusive, with numerous plausible parent systems and explosion mechanisms suggested. Observationally, SNe Ia have multiple subclasses, distinguished by their light curves and spectra. This raises the question of whether these indicate that multiple mechanisms occur in nature or that explosions have a large but continuous range of physical properties. We revisit the idea that normal and 91bg-like SNe can be understood as part of a spectral sequence in which changes in temperature dominate. Specifically, we find that a single ejecta structure is sufficient to provide reasonable fits of both the normal SN Ia SN2011fe and the 91bg-like SN2005bl, provided that the luminosity and thus temperature of the ejecta are adjusted appropriately. This suggests that the outer layers of the ejecta are similar, thus providing some support for a common explosion mechanism. Our spectral sequence also helps to shed light on the conditions under which carbon can be detected in premaximum SNIa spectra-we find that emission from iron can "fill in" the carbon trough in cool SNeIa. This may indicate that the outer layers of the ejecta of events in which carbon is detected are relatively metal-poor compared to events in which carbon is not detected.

We investigate whether the anomalous elemental abundance patterns in some of the C-enhanced metal-poor-r/s (CEMP-r/s) stars are consistent with predictions of nucleosynthesis yields from the i-process, a neutron-capture regime at neutron densities intermediate between those typical for the slow (s) and rapid (r) processes. Conditions necessary for the i-process are expected to be met at multiple stellar sites, such as the He-core and He-shell flashes in low-metallicity low-mass stars, super-AGB and post-AGB stars, as well as low-metallicity massive stars. We have found that single-exposure one-zone simulations of the i-process reproduce the abundance patterns in some of the CEMP-r/s stars much better than the model that assumes a superposition of yields from sand r-process sources. Our previous study of nuclear data uncertainties relevant to the i-process revealed that they could have a significant impact on the i-process yields obtained in our idealized one-zone calculations, leading, for example, to ∼ 0.7dex uncertainty in our predicted [Ba/La] ratio. Recent 3D hydrodynamic simulations of convection driven by a He-shell flash in post-AGB Sakurai's object have discovered a new mode of non-radial instabilities: the Global Oscillation of Shell H-ingestion. This has demonstrated that spherically symmetric stellar evolution simulations cannot be used to accurately model physical conditions for the i-process.