UC Berkeley

This thesis presents Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) rates from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Cluster Supernova Survey, a program designed to efficiently detect and observe high-redshift supernovae by targeting massive galaxy clusters at redshifts 0.9 < z < 1.46. Among other uses, measurements of the rate at which SNe Ia occur can be used to help constrain the SN Ia ``progenitor scenario.'' The progenitor scenario, the process that leads to a SN~Ia, is a particularly poorly understood aspect of these events. Fortunately, the progenitor is directly linked to the delay time between star formation and supernova explosion. Supernova rates can be used to measure the distribution of these delay times and thus yield information about the elusive progenitors.

Galaxy clusters, with their simpler star formation histories, offer an ideal environment for measuring the delay time distribution. In this thesis the SN Ia rate in clusters is calculated based on 8 +/- 1 cluster SNe Ia discovered in the HST Cluster Supernova Survey. This is the first cluster SN Ia rate measurement with detected z<\italic> > 0.9 SNe. The SN Ia rate is found to be 0.50^+0.23_-0.19 (stat) ^+0.10_-0.09 (sys) h₇₀² SNuB (SNuB = 10^-12 SNe L_sun,B^-1 yr^-1), or in units of stellar mass, 0.36^+0.16_-0.13 (stat) ^+0.07_-0.06 (sys) h₇₀² SNuM (SNuM = 10^-12 SNe M_sun^-1 yr^-1). This represents a factor of approximately 5 +/- 2 increase over measurements of the cluster rate at z < 0.2 and is the first significant detection of a changing cluster SN Ia rate with redshift. Parameterizing the late-time SN Ia delay time distribution with a power law in time with index s, this measurement in combination with lower-redshift cluster SN Ia rates constrains s = -1.41^+0.47_-0.40, under the approximation of a single-burst cluster formation redshift of z_f = 3. This is generally consistent with expectations for the ``double degenerate'' progenitor scenario and inconsistent with some models for the ``single degenerate'' progenitor scenario predicting a steeper delay time distribution at large delay times. To check for environmental dependence and the influence of younger stellar populations the rate is also calculated specifically in cluster red-sequence galaxies and in morphologically early-type galaxies, with results similar to the full cluster rate. Finally, the upper limit of one host-less cluster SN Ia detected in the survey implies that the fraction of stars in the intra-cluster medium is less than 0.47 (95% confidence), consistent with measurements at lower redshifts.

The volumetric SN Ia rate can also be used to constrain the SN Ia delay time distribution. However, there have been discrepancies in recent analyses of both the high-redshift rate and its implications for the delay time distribution. Here, the volumetric SN Ia rate out to z ∼ 1.6 is measured, based on ∼12 SNe Ia in the foregrounds and backgrounds of the clusters targeted in the survey. The rate is measured in four broad redshift bins. The results are consistent with previous measurements at z > 1 and strengthen the case for a SN Ia rate that is greater than approximately 0.6 × 10^-4 h₇₀³ yr^-1 Mpc^-3 at z ∼ 1 and flattening out at higher redshift. Assumptions about host-galaxy dust extinction used in different high-redshift rate measurements are examined. Different assumptions may account for some of the difference in published results for the z ∼ 1 rate.