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The Λ Cold Dark Matter model (ΛCDM) represents the current standard model in cosmology. Within this, there is a tension between the value of the Hubble constant, H 0 , inferred from local distance indicators and the angular scale of fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). We investigate whether the tension is significant enough to warrant new physics in the form of modifying or adding energy components to the standard cosmological model. We find that late time dark energy explanations are slightly disfavoured whereas a pre-CMB decoupling extra dark energy component has a marginally positive Bayesian evidence. A constant equation of state of the additional early energy density is constrained to 0.086 +0.04 −0.03 . Although this value deviates significantly from 1/3, valid for dark radiation, the latter is not disfavoured based on the Bayesian evidence. If the tension persists, future estimates of H 0 at the 1% level will be able to decisively determine which of the proposed explanations is favoured.

Early-time observations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are essential to constrain their progenitor properties. In this paper, we present high-quality light curves of 127 SNe Ia discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) in 2018. We describe our method to perform forced point spread function (PSF) photometry, which can be applied to other types of extragalactic transients. With a planned cadence of six observations per night (3g + 3r), all of the 127 SNe Ia are detected in both g and r band more than 10 d (in the rest frame) prior to the epoch of g-band maximum light. The redshifts of these objects range from z = 0.0181 to 0.165; the median redshift is 0.074. Among the 127 SNe, 50 are detected at least 14 d prior to maximum light (in the rest frame), with a subset of 9 objects being detected more than 17 d before g-band peak. This is the largest sample of young SNe Ia collected to date; it can be used to study the shape and color evolution of the rising light curves in unprecedented detail. We discuss six peculiar events in this sample, including one 02cx-like event ZTF18abclfee (SN 2018crl), one Ia-CSM SN ZTF18aaykjei (SN 2018cxk), and four objects with possible super-Chandrasekhar mass

The most precise local measurements of H 0 rely on observations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) coupled with Cepheid distances to SN Ia host galaxies. Recent results have shown tension comparing H 0 to the value inferred from CMB observations assuming ΛCDM, making it important to check for potential systematic uncertainties in either approach. To date, precise local H 0 measurements have used SN Ia distances based on optical photometry, with corrections for light curve shape and colour. Here, we analyse SNe Ia as standard candles in the near-infrared (NIR), where luminosity variations in the supernovae and extinction by dust are both reduced relative to the optical. From a combined fit to 9 nearby calibrator SNe with host Cepheid distances from Riess et al. (2016) and 27 SNe in the Hubble flow, we estimate the absolute peak J magnitude M J = −18.524 ± 0.041 mag and H 0 = 72.8 ± 1.6 (statistical) ± 2.7 (systematic) km s −1 Mpc −1 . The 2.2% statistical uncertainty demonstrates that the NIR provides a compelling avenue to measuring SN Ia distances, and for our sample the intrinsic (unmodeled) peak J magnitude scatter is just ∼0.10 mag, even without light curve shape or colour corrections. Our results do not vary significantly with different sample selection criteria, though photometric calibration in the NIR may be a dominant systematic uncertainty. Our findings suggest that tension in the competing H 0 distance ladders is likely not a result of supernova systematics that could be expected to vary between optical and NIR wavelengths, like dust extinction. We anticipate further improvements in H 0 with a larger calibrator sample of SNe Ia with Cepheid distances, more Hubble flow SNe Ia with NIR light curves, and better use of the full NIR photometric data set beyond simply the peak J-band magnitude.

c 0000 RAS 2 K. Maguire et al. ABSTRACT A key tracer of the elusive progenitor systems of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) is the detection of narrow blueshifted time-varying Na i D absorption lines, interpreted as evidence of circumstellar material (CSM) surrounding the progenitor system. The origin of this material is controversial, but the simplest explanation is that it results from previous mass loss in a system containing a white dwarf and a non-degenerate companion star. We present new single-epoch intermediate-resolution spectra of 17 low-redshift SNe Ia taken with XShooter on the ESO Very Large Telescope. Combining this sample with events from the literature, we confirm an excess (∼20 per cent) of SNe Ia displaying blueshifted narrow Na i D absorption features compared to non-blueshifted Na i D features. The host galaxies of SNe Ia displaying blueshifted absorption profiles are skewed towards later-type galaxies, compared to SNe Ia that show no Na i D absorption, and SNe Ia displaying blueshifted narrow Na i D absorption features have broader light curves. The strength of the Na i D absorption is stronger in SNe Ia displaying blueshifted Na i D absorption features than those without blueshifted features, and the strength of the blueshifted Na i D is correlated with the B − V colour of the SN at maximum light. This strongly suggests the absorbing material is local to the SN. In the context of the progenitor systems of SNe Ia, we discuss the significance of these findings and other recent observational evidence on the nature of SN Ia progenitors. We present a summary that suggests there are at least two distinct populations of normal, cosmologically useful SNe Ia.

We explore cosmological constraints on the sum of the three active neutrino masses Mν in the context of dynamical dark energy (DDE) models with equation of state (EoS) parametrized as a function of redshift z by w(z) = w0 + wa z/(1 + z), and satisfying w(z) ≥ −1 for all z. We make use of Cosmic Microwave Background data from the Planck satellite, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations measurements, and Supernovae Ia luminosity distance measurements, and perform a Bayesian analysis. We show that, within these models, the bounds on Mν do not degrade with respect to those obtained in the ΛCDM case; in fact the bounds are slightly tighter, despite the enlarged parameter space. We explain our results based on the observation that, for fixed choices of w0 , wa such that w(z) ≥ −1 (but not w = −1 for all z), the upper limit on Mν is tighter than the ΛCDM limit because of the well-known degeneracy between w and Mν. The Bayesian analysis we have carried out then integrates over the possible values of w0-wa such that w(z) ≥ −1, all of which correspond to tighter limits on Mν than the ΛCDM limit. We find a 95% credible interval (C.I.) upper bound of Mν < 0.13 eV. This bound can be compared with the 95% C.I. upper bounds of Mν < 0.16 eV, obtained within the ΛCDM model, and Mν < 0.41 eV, obtained in a DDE model with arbitrary EoS (which allows values of w < −1). Contrary to the results derived for DDE models with arbitrary EoS, we find that a dark energy component with w(z) ≥ −1 is unable to alleviate the tension between high-redshift observables and direct measurements of the Hubble constant H0. Finally, in light of the results of this analysis, we also discuss the implications for DDE models of a possible determination of the neutrino mass ordering by laboratory searches.

Early observations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) provide a unique probe of their progenitor systems and explosion physics. Here we report the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) discovery of an extraordinarily young SN Ia, iPTF 16abc. By fitting a power law to our early light curve, we infer that first light for the SN, that is, when the SN could have first been detected by our survey, occurred only 0.15 0.07 0.15  days before our first detection. In the ∼24 hr after discovery, iPTF 16abc rose by ∼2 mag, featuring a near-linear rise in flux for 3  days. Early spectra show strong C II absorption, which disappears after ∼7 days. Unlike the extensively observed Type Ia SN 2011fe, the B V 0 -( ) colors of iPTF 16abc are blue and nearly constant in the days after explosion. We show that our early observations of iPTF 16abc cannot be explained by either SN shock breakout and the associated, subsequent cooling or the SN ejecta colliding with a stellar companion. Instead, we argue that the early characteristics of iPTF 16abc, including (i) the rapid, near-linear rise, (ii) the nonevolving blue colors, and (iii) the strong C II absorption, are the result of either ejecta interaction with nearby, unbound material or vigorous mixing of radioactive 56 Ni in the SN ejecta, or a combination of the two. In the next few years, dozens of very young normal SNe Ia will be discovered, and observations similar to those presented here will constrain the white dwarf explosion mechanism.

Early observations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) provide essential clues for understanding the progenitor system that gave rise to the terminal thermonuclear explosion. We present exquisite observations of SN 2019yvq, the second observed SN Ia, after iPTF 14atg, to display an early flash of emission in the ultraviolet (UV) and optical. Our analysis finds that SN 2019yvq was unusual, even when ignoring the initial flash, in that it was moderately underluminous for a SN Ia (M g ≈ −18.5 mag at peak) yet featured very high absorption velocities (v ≈ 15, 000 km s −1 for Si II λ6355 at peak). We find that many of the observational features of SN 2019yvq, aside from the flash, can be explained if the explosive yield of radioactive 56 Ni is relatively low (we measure M56 Ni = 0.31 ± 0.05 M) and it and other iron-group elements are concentrated in the innermost layers of the ejecta. To explain both the UV/optical flash and peak properties of SN 2019yvq we consider four different models: interaction between the SN ejecta and a nondegenerate companion, extended clumps of 56 Ni in the outer ejecta,