Supernova Cosmology Project

Is there any tangible evidence for these claims Some would answer in the affirmative. Among them is Saul Perhnutter at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in Berkeley, who leads the Supernova Cosmology Project, and Brian Smith, a member of the Mount Stromlo and Siding Springs observatories (Austraha) and mentor of the High-z Supernova Search Team. Their point of common interest is the most distant type la supernovas ever observed. 

Systematic research using wide-held images taken at intervals of three to four weeks have allowed two independent groups, the Supernova Cosmology Project and the High-z Supernova Search Team, to identify more than 50 SNIa events at intermediate redshifts. The Hubble redshift-magnitude diagram has been extended out to z = 1. 

We will describe here the current status of the supernova research and outline ongoing projects to distinguish between a cosmological constant or a vacuum density contribution to the energy-momentum tensor in the Einstein equation. 

The most recent analyses (Riess et al. 2007 Wood-Vasey et al. 2007) employing much larger data sets than before are all compatible with the cosmological constant (w = — 1) interpretation of the data and give Qm = 0.274 with 20% statistical error. A final conclusion concerning the acceleration driven by a substantial cosmological constant might be reached by the proposed Supernova Acceleration Probe space mission. The project aims at the observation of around 2,000 SN la up to a redshift z < 1.2. Its launch is tentatively scheduled for 2013. 

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