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# On the spectrum of Dehn twists in quantum Teichmüller theory

## 1. Introduction

The quantization problem of Teichmüller spaces of punctured surfaces is connected to quantum Chern–Simons theory with non-compact gauge groups (and thereby to 2+1-dimensional quantum gravity ) and non-rational quantum conformal field theory in two dimensions. In particular, quantum Teichmüller theory is expected to describe the space of conformal blocks in quantum Liouville theory . From the mathematical point of view this can be useful in three-dimensional topology, in particular for construction of new link and three-manifold invariants.

The Teichmüller spaces of punctured surfaces have been quantized in two different but essentially equivalent ways: as (degenerate) Poisson manifolds , and as simplectic manifolds with Weil–Petersson simplectic structure . The both approaches employ the real analytic coordinates closely related to the Penner parameterization of the decorated Teichmüller spaces . The main outcome of the theory is the construction of a particular projective (infinite dimensional) representation of the mapping class groups of punctured surfaces. The projective factor has been shown to be related to the Virasoro central charge in quantum Liouville theory .

In this paper we describe the spectrum of Dehn twists in the quantum Teichmüller theory, derive an explicit formula for the associated with braidings $`R`$-matrix (square of which is a Dehn twist), and uncover the underlying infinite dimensional representations of the quantum group $`𝒰_q(𝔰𝔩(2))`$. Those representations were considered in papers .

The paper is organized as follows. In section 2 we briefly remind the main properties of the non-compact quantum dilogarithm (closely related to the double sine function, see for example ). This is the main technical object entering practically all the constructions of the paper. In section 3 we describe the algebraic system underlying the quantum Teichmüller theory and its realization in terms of the quantum dilogarithm. Section 4 is a survey of the part of papers  which describes the mapping class group representation in terms of the basic algebraic system of section 3. Solution of the Dehn twist spectral problem is described in section 5 (proof of Theorem 1 is to appear in a separate publication). Section 6 contains derivation of the $`R`$-matrix and revealing the associated quantum group structure.

*Acknowledgments.* I wish to thank L. D. Faddeev for valuable discussions and encouragement. This work is supported by RFBR grant 99-01-00101, INTAS grant 99-01705, and Finnish Academy.

## 2. Quantum dilogarithm

Let complex $`b`$ have a nonzero real part $`\mathrm{}b0`$. The *non-compact quantum dilogarithm*, $`\mathrm{e}_b(z)`$, is defined by the integral formula

(1)
$$\mathrm{e}_b(z)\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{4}_{𝗂0\mathrm{}}^{𝗂0+\mathrm{}}\frac{e^{𝗂2zw}dw}{\mathrm{sinh}(wb)\mathrm{sinh}(w/b)w}\right)$$

in the strip $`|\mathrm{}z|<|\mathrm{}c_b|`$, where

$$c_b𝗂(b+b^1)/2.$$

In particular, when $`\mathrm{}b^2>0`$, we have the following product formula:

(2)
$$\mathrm{e}_b(z)=(e^{2\pi (z+c_b)b};q^2)_{\mathrm{}}/(e^{2\pi (zc_b)b^1};\overline{q}^2)_{\mathrm{}},$$

where

$$qe^{𝗂\pi b^2},\overline{q}e^{𝗂\pi b^2}.$$

Using the symmetry properties

$$\mathrm{e}_b(z)=\mathrm{e}_b(z)=\mathrm{e}_{1/b}(z),$$

we assume in what follows

$$\mathrm{}b>0,\mathrm{}b0.$$

Function $`\mathrm{e}_b(z)`$ can be analytically continued in variable $`z`$ to the entire complex plane as a meromorphic function with essential singularity at infinity, and with the following characteristic properties:

(3)
$$(\mathrm{e}_b(z))^{\pm 1}=0z=(c_b+m𝗂b+n𝗂b^1),m,n_0;$$

depending on the direction along which the limit is taken,

(4)
$$\mathrm{e}_b(z)|_{|z|\mathrm{}}\{\begin{array}{cc}1\hfill & |\mathrm{arg}z|>\frac{\pi }{2}+\mathrm{arg}b;\hfill \\ e^{𝗂\pi z^2𝗂\pi (1+2c_b^2)/6}\hfill & |\mathrm{arg}z|<\frac{\pi }{2}\mathrm{arg}b;\hfill \\ \frac{(\overline{q}^2;\overline{q}^2)_{\mathrm{}}}{\mathrm{\Theta }(𝗂b^1z;b^2)}\hfill & |\mathrm{arg}z\frac{\pi }{2}|<\mathrm{arg}b;\hfill \\ \frac{\mathrm{\Theta }(𝗂bz;b^2)}{(q^2;q^2)_{\mathrm{}}}\hfill & |\mathrm{arg}z+\frac{\pi }{2}|<\mathrm{arg}b,\hfill \end{array}$$

where

$$\mathrm{\Theta }(z;\tau )\underset{n}{}e^{𝗂\pi \tau n^2+𝗂2\pi zn},\mathrm{}\tau >0;$$

(5)
$$\mathrm{e}_b(z)\mathrm{e}_b(z)=e^{𝗂\pi z^2𝗂\pi (1+2c_b^2)/6};$$

(6)
$$\mathrm{e}_b(z𝗂b^{\pm 1}/2)=(1+e^{2\pi b^{\pm 1}z})\mathrm{e}_b(z+𝗂b^{\pm 1}/2);$$

when $`b`$ is either real or on unit circle,

(7)
$$(1|b|)\mathrm{}b=0\overline{\mathrm{e}_b(z)}=1/\mathrm{e}_b(\overline{z});$$

(8)
$$\mathrm{e}_b(𝗉)\mathrm{e}_b(𝗊)=\mathrm{e}_b(𝗊)\mathrm{e}_b(𝗉+𝗊)\mathrm{e}_b(𝗉),$$

if self-adjoint operators $`𝗉`$ and $`𝗊`$ in $`L^2()`$ satisfy the Heisenberg commutation relation $`[𝗉,𝗊]=(2\pi 𝗂)^1`$;

(9)
$$\begin{array}{c}_{}\frac{\mathrm{e}_b(x+u)}{\mathrm{e}_b(x+v)}e^{2\pi 𝗂wx}𝑑x\hfill \\ \hfill =\frac{\mathrm{e}_b(uvc_b)\mathrm{e}_b(w+c_b)}{\mathrm{e}_b(uv+wc_b)}e^{2\pi 𝗂w(v+c_b)+𝗂\pi (14c_b^2)/12}\\ \hfill =\frac{\mathrm{e}_b(vuw+c_b)}{\mathrm{e}_b(vu+c_b)\mathrm{e}_b(wc_b)}e^{2\pi 𝗂w(uc_b)𝗂\pi (14c_b^2)/12},\end{array}$$

where

(10)
$$\mathrm{}(v+c_b)>0,\mathrm{}(u+c_b)>0,\mathrm{}(vu)<\mathrm{}w<0.$$

Restrictions (10) can actually be relaxed by deforming the integration path in the complex $`x`$ plane, keeping the asymptotic directions of the two ends within the sectors $`\pm (|\mathrm{arg}x|\pi /2)>\mathrm{arg}b`$. The enlarged in this way domain for the variables $`u,v,w`$ in eqn (9) has the form:

(11)
$$|\mathrm{arg}(𝗂z)|<\pi \mathrm{arg}b,z\{w,vuw,uv2c_b\}.$$

As the matter of fact the pentagon equation (8) is equivalent to the integral Ramanujan formula (9), see  for the proof.

## 3. The basic algebraic system

Introduce an important notation. Let $`V`$ be a vector space. For any natural $`1im`$ we define embeddings

$$\iota _i:EndV𝖺𝖺_i=\underset{i1\mathrm{times}}{\underset{}{id\mathrm{}id}}𝖺id\mathrm{}idEndV^m,$$

ie $`𝖺`$ stands in the $`i`$-th position. If $`𝖻EndV^k`$ for some $`1km`$ and $`\{i_1,i_2,\mathrm{},i_k\}\{1,2,\mathrm{},m\}`$, we write

$$𝖻_{i_1i_2\mathrm{}i_2}\iota _{i_1}\iota _{i_2}\mathrm{}\iota _{i_k}(𝖻).$$

Note also that the permutation group $`𝕊_m`$ is naturally represented in $`V^m`$:

(12)
$$𝖯_\sigma (x_1\mathrm{}x_i\mathrm{})=x_{\sigma ^1(1)}\mathrm{}x_{\sigma ^1(i)}\mathrm{},\sigma 𝕊_m.$$

The projective representation of the mapping class groups of punctured surfaces, associated with the quantum Teichmüller theory, is based on the concrete realization of the following algebraic system of equations on two invertible elements $`𝖠EndV`$ and $`𝖳EndV^2`$,

(13)
$$𝖠^3=id,$$

(14)
$$𝖳_{12}𝖳_{13}𝖳_{23}=𝖳_{23}𝖳_{12},$$

(15)
$$𝖠_1𝖳_{12}𝖠_2=𝖠_2𝖳_{21}𝖠_1,$$

(16)
$$𝖳_{12}𝖠_1𝖳_{21}=\zeta 𝖠_1𝖠_2𝖯_{(12)},$$

where $`\zeta `$ is a (nonzero) complex number, $`𝖯_{(12)}`$ being defined in eqn (12) with

$$𝕊_2\sigma =(12):121.$$

### 3.1. Useful notation

In practical calculations it is very convenient to use the following notation which permits to avoid writing explicitly operator $`𝖠`$. For any $`𝖺EndV`$ we denote

(17)
$$𝖺_{\widehat{k}}𝖠_k𝖺_k𝖠_k^1,𝖺_{\stackrel{ˇ}{k}}𝖠_k^1𝖺_k𝖠_k.$$

Obviously

$$𝖺_{\stackrel{ˇ}{\widehat{k}}}=𝖺_{\widehat{\stackrel{ˇ}{k}}}=𝖺_k,𝖺_{\widehat{\widehat{k}}}=𝖺_{\stackrel{ˇ}{k}},𝖺_{\stackrel{ˇ}{\stackrel{ˇ}{k}}}=𝖺_{\widehat{k}},$$

where the last two equations follow from eqn (13). Besides, it is useful to denote

(18)
$$𝖯_{(kl\mathrm{}m\widehat{k})}𝖠_k𝖯_{(kl\mathrm{}m)},𝖯_{(kl\mathrm{}m\stackrel{ˇ}{k})}𝖠_k^1𝖯_{(kl\mathrm{}m)},$$

where $`(kl\mathrm{}m)`$ is cyclic permutation,

$$(kl\mathrm{}m):kl\mathrm{}mk.$$

Eqns (15), (16) in this notation take very compact form

(19)
$$𝖳_{12}=𝖳_{\widehat{2}\stackrel{ˇ}{1}},$$

(20)
$$𝖳_{12}𝖳_{2\widehat{1}}=\zeta 𝖯_{(12\widehat{1})}.$$

### 3.2. Realization through the quantum dilogarithm

Take

$$V=L^2().$$

Let self-adjoint operators $`𝗉,𝗊`$ satisfy the Heisenberg commutation relation

$$[𝗉,𝗊]=(2\pi 𝗂)^1.$$

Then operators

(21)
$$𝖠e^{𝗂\pi /3}e^{𝗂3\pi 𝗊^2}e^{𝗂\pi (𝗉+𝗊)^2}L^2(),$$

(22)
$$𝖳e^{𝗂2\pi 𝗉_1𝗊_2}(\mathrm{e}_b(𝗊_1+𝗉_2𝗊_2))^1L^2(^2),$$

do satisfy equations (13) – (16) with $`\zeta =e^{𝗂\pi c_b^2/3}`$. Note that operator $`𝖠`$ here is unitary and is characterized by the equations (up to a normalization factor)

$$\mathrm{𝖠𝗊𝖠}^1=𝗉𝗊,\mathrm{𝖠𝗉𝖠}^1=𝗊,$$

while operator $`𝖳`$ is unitary if $`(1|b|)\mathrm{}b=0`$.

## 4. The mapping class group representation

Here we recall how the mapping class groups of punctured surfaces are represented in terms of system (13) – (16).

### 4.1. Decorated ideal triangulations

We call a two-cell in a cell complex (or CW-complex, see ) triangle if exactly three boundary points of the corresponding two-disk are mapped to the zero-skeleton. We shall also call zero-cells and one-cells vertices and edges, respectively.

Let $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ be a compact oriented (possibly with boundary) surface with finite non-empty set $`V_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ of marked points called also *punctures*.

###### Definition 1.

A cell complex decomposition of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is called *ideal triangulation* if

* the zero-skeleton coincides with $`V_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$;
* all two-cells are triangles.

Two ideal triangulations are considered *equivalent* if there exists an isotopy of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ fixed on $`\mathrm{\Sigma }V_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ deforming one into another.

We suppose that $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ admits ideal triangulations (for example, each boundary component must contain at least one marked point). Any ideal triangulation of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ has one and the same number of triangles $`n_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. Denote $`T(\tau )`$ the set of triangles in ideal triangulation $`\tau `$.

###### Definition 2.

Ideal triangulation $`\tau `$ is called decorated if

* each triangle is provided by a marked corner;
* all triangles are numbered, ie a bijective numbering mapping

$$\overline{\tau }:\{1,\mathrm{},n_\mathrm{\Sigma }\}T(\tau )$$

is fixed.

Graphically (see below) in a triangle we put the corresponding integer inside of it, and asterisk at the marked corner. The set of all decorated ideal triangulations of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ will be denoted $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. For terminological convenience and if no confusion is possible, in what follows we sometimes will use the term triangulation as a substitute for decorated ideal triangulation.

#### 4.1.1. Action of the permutation group

The permutation group $`𝕊_{n_\mathrm{\Sigma }}`$ naturally acts in $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ from the right,

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{\Sigma }\times 𝕊_{n_\mathrm{\Sigma }}(\tau ,\sigma )\tau \sigma \mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{\Sigma },$$

by changing the numbering mapping:

$$\overline{\tau \sigma }=\overline{\tau }\sigma .$$

#### 4.1.2. Changing of a marked corner

If $`\tau \mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and $`1in_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, then triangulation $`\rho _i(\tau )`$ is obtained from $`\tau `$ by changing the marked corner of triangle $`\overline{\tau }(i)`$ as is shown in figure 1.

#### 4.1.3. The flip transformation

Let two distinct triangles $`\overline{\tau }(i)`$, $`\overline{\tau }(j)`$ have a common edge and their marked corners be as in the lhs of figure 2, so the common edge is a diagonal of a quadrilateral combined of the two triangles.

Then triangulation $`\omega _{ij}(\tau )`$ is obtained from $`\tau `$ by replacing the common edge by the opposite diagonal of the quadrilateral, assigning the numbers and marked corners to new triangles as is shown in the rhs of figure 2. Note that this *flip* transformation $`\omega _{ij}`$ implicitly depends on the triangulation it transforms as at fixed $`i`$ and $`j`$ it is not defined on all triangulations.

#### 4.1.4. The properties

We have the following properties:

(23)
$$\rho _i\rho _i\rho _i=id,$$

(24)
$$\omega _{jk}\omega _{ik}\omega _{ij}=\omega _{ij}\omega _{jk},$$

(25)
$$(\rho _i^1\times \rho _j)\omega _{ij}=\omega _{ji}(\rho _i^1\times \rho _j),$$

(26)
$$\omega _{ji}\rho _i\omega _{ij}=(ij)(\rho _i\times \rho _j).$$

The first equation is evident since there are only three possibilities to mark a corner in a triangle. The other three equations are proved pictorially in figures 3 – 5.

Any two (decorated ideal) triangulations can be transformed to each other by a (finite) composition of elementary transformations, ie $`\rho _i`$, $`\omega _{ij}`$ and permutations. This follows from the known fact that any two ideal triangulations (without decoration) can be transformed one into another by a composition of flips , and that all possible decorations of a fixed ideal triangulation are transitively acted upon by compositions of permutations and $`\rho _i`$ transformations.

### 4.2. Quantum theory

Suppose we are given a solution to eqns (13) – (16). For each $`\tau \mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and $`1in_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ assign

(27)
$$𝖥(\tau ,\rho _i(\tau ))𝖠_iEndV^{n_\mathrm{\Sigma }}.$$

Let $`ij`$ be such that triangles $`\overline{\tau }(i)`$ and $`\overline{\tau }(j)`$ are as in the lhs of figure 2. Then we put

(28)
$$𝖥(\tau ,\omega _{ij}(\tau ))𝖳_{ij}EndV^{n_\mathrm{\Sigma }}.$$

Finally, for any permutation $`\sigma 𝕊_{n_\mathrm{\Sigma }}`$ set

$$𝖥(\tau ,\tau \sigma )𝖯_\sigma EndV^{n_\mathrm{\Sigma }},$$

where operator $`𝖯_\sigma `$ is defined by eqn (12). Ensured by the consistency of eqns (13) – (16) with eqns (23) – (26), mapping $`𝖥`$ can be extended to an operator valued function $`𝖥(\tau ,\tau ^{})`$ on $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{\Sigma }\times \mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ such that for any $`\tau ,\tau ^{},\tau ^{\prime \prime }\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$

(29)
$$𝖥(\tau ,\tau )=1,𝖥(\tau ,\tau ^{})𝖥(\tau ^{},\tau ^{\prime \prime })𝖥(\tau ^{\prime \prime },\tau )\{0\}.$$

In particular (when $`\tau ^{\prime \prime }=\tau `$),

(30)
$$𝖥(\tau ,\tau ^{})𝖥(\tau ^{},\tau )\{0\}.$$

As an example, deduce operator $`𝖥(\tau ,\omega _{ij}^1(\tau ))`$. Denoting $`\tau ^{}\omega _{ij}^1(\tau )`$ and employing eqn (30) as well as definition (28), we have

(31)
$$𝖥(\tau ,\omega _{ij}^1(\tau ))=𝖥(\omega _{ij}(\tau ^{}),\tau ^{})(𝖥(\tau ^{},\omega _{ij}(\tau ^{})))^1=𝖳_{ij}^1,$$

where we denote by $``$ an equality up to a numerical factor.

The mapping class or modular group111The group of homeomorphisms identical on the boundary and permuting the interior marked points, factored wrt the connected component of the identical homeomorphism. $`_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ naturally acts in $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. By construction we have the following invariance property of function $`𝖥`$:

$$𝖥(f(\tau ),f(\tau ^{}))=𝖥(\tau ,\tau ^{}),f_\mathrm{\Sigma }.$$

This enables us to construct a projective representation of $`_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$:

$$_\mathrm{\Sigma }f𝖥(\tau ,f(\tau ))EndV^{n_\mathrm{\Sigma }}.$$

Indeed,

$$𝖥(\tau ,f(\tau ))𝖥(\tau ,h(\tau ))=𝖥(\tau ,f(\tau ))𝖥(f(\tau ),f(h(\tau )))𝖥(\tau ,fh(\tau )).$$

Any Dehn twist, at least if it is along a non-separating contour, is equivalent to the Dehn twist of an annulus (with two marked points on the two boundary components) along its only non-contractible loop denoted $`\alpha `$ in figure 6. As an operator it is given in terms of operator $`𝖳`$. Indeed, from figure 6 it follows that $`\omega _{12}D_\alpha (\tau )=\tau `$. So, using eqn (31), we obtain

(32)
$$𝖥(\tau ,D_\alpha (\tau ))=𝖥(\tau ,\omega _{12}^1(\tau ))𝖳_{12}^1,$$

where the normalization is to be fixed.

## 5. Diagonalizing the Dehn twist

In this section we work within the quantum Teichmüller theory, ie we consider solution (21), (22) of system (13) – (16). We assume that $`(1|b|)\mathrm{}b=0`$, so the range of mapping $`𝖥`$ in this case is given by unitary operators.

Properly normalized quantum Dehn twist of the annulus has the form:

$$𝖣_\alpha =\zeta ^6𝖳_{12}^1e^{𝗂2\pi 𝗓_\alpha ^2},𝗓_\alpha =(𝗉_1+𝗊_2)/2,\zeta =e^{𝗂\pi c_b^2/3},$$

where the exponential factor removes the spurious degree of freedom, see . Using formula (22) we rewrite it equivalently

$$𝖣_\alpha =e^{𝗂2\pi (𝗊_\alpha ^2c_b^2)}\mathrm{e}_b(𝗉_\alpha +𝗊_\alpha ),$$

where the self-adjoint operators

$$𝗉_\alpha 𝗊_1+𝗉_2(𝗊_2+𝗉_1)/2,𝗊_\alpha (𝗊_2𝗉_1)/2$$

satisfy the Heisenberg commutation relation

$$[𝗉_\alpha ,𝗊_\alpha ]=(2\pi 𝗂)^1.$$

To diagonalize $`𝖣_\alpha `$, we use the fact that mutually commuting (and conjugate to each other in the case when $`|b|=1`$) unbounded operators

$$𝖫_\alpha ^\pm 2\mathrm{cosh}(2\pi b^{\pm 1}𝗊_\alpha )+e^{2\pi b^{\pm 1}𝗉_\alpha }$$

also commute with $`𝖣_\alpha `$:

$$[𝖫_\alpha ^{},𝖫_\alpha ^+]=[𝖣_\alpha ,𝖫_\alpha ^\pm ]=0.$$

Geometrically operator $`𝖫_\alpha ^+`$ is nothing else but the quantized geodesic length (hyperbolic cosine thereof) of contour $`\alpha `$, see .

Let us consider the “coordinate” basis $`x|`$, $`x`$, where $`𝗊_\alpha `$ is diagonal and $`𝗉_\alpha `$ is a differentiation operator,

$$x|𝗊_\alpha =xx|,x|𝗉_\alpha =\frac{1}{2\pi 𝗂}\frac{}{x}x|,$$

and define one parameter family of vectors:

(33)
$$x|\alpha _s=\frac{\mathrm{e}_b(s+x+c_b𝗂0)}{\mathrm{e}_b(sxc_b+𝗂0)}e^{𝗂2\pi (x+c_b)s}=x|\alpha _s,s.$$

###### Theorem 1.

Vectors $`|\alpha _s`$ are eigenvectors of operators $`𝖫_\alpha ^\pm ,𝖣_\alpha `$:

(34)
$$𝖫_\alpha ^\pm |\alpha _s=|\alpha _s2\mathrm{cosh}(2\pi b^{\pm 1}s),𝖣_\alpha |\alpha _s=|\alpha _se^{𝗂2\pi (s^2c_b^2)}.$$

They are orthogonal to each other:

(35)
$$\alpha _r|\alpha _s=\nu (s)^1\delta (rs),\nu (s)4\mathrm{sinh}(2\pi bs)\mathrm{sinh}(2\pi b^1s),$$

and complete in $`L^2()`$:

(36)
$$_0^{\mathrm{}}|\alpha _s\nu (s)𝑑s\alpha _s|=1.$$

The continuous spectrum of Dehn twists in quantum Teichmüller theory has also been observed by V. Fock222Private communication.. It is worth noting that measure $`\nu (s)ds`$ in eqn (36) also appears in the representation theory of the non-compact quantum group $`𝒰_q(𝔰𝔩(2,))`$ . In the next section we reveal that this is not accidental.

## 6. Braiding and $`R`$-matrix

Braiding of a disk with two vertices is naturally associated with the contour (isotopy class thereof) surrounding the vertices. Moreover, square of the braiding is Dehn twist along the associated contour.

Figure 7 shows how the braiding of triangulation $`\tau `$ of a disk with two interior and two boundary marked points can be removed by a sequence of elementary transformations:

$$\tau =(13)(24)(\rho _3\times \rho _1^1)\omega _{14}(\omega _{13}\times \omega _{24})(\rho _1\times \omega _{23})\rho _3^1B_\alpha ^1(\tau ).$$

Using the construction of subsection 4.2, the corresponding quantum braiding operator has the form (up to a normalization factor)

$$𝖡_\alpha 𝖥(\tau ,B_\alpha (\tau ))𝖯_{(13)(24)}𝖱_{1234},$$

with

(37)
$$𝖱=𝖱_{1234}𝖠_1^1𝖠_3𝖳_{41}𝖳_{31}𝖳_{42}𝖳_{32}𝖠_1𝖠_3^1=𝖳_{1\stackrel{ˇ}{4}}𝖳_{13}𝖳_{42}𝖳_{\widehat{3}2},$$

where in the second equation we have used notation (17) and eqn (19). As a consequence of relations (13) – (16) operator $`𝖱EndV^4`$ solves the following Yang–Baxter equation

(38)
$$𝖱_{1234}𝖱_{1256}𝖱_{3456}=𝖱_{3456}𝖱_{1256}𝖱_{1234},$$

and in the case corresponding to realization through the quantum dilogarithm it is in fact (as will be shown below) $`𝒰_q(𝔰𝔩(2))`$ (more precisely, the modular double thereof ) universal $`R`$-matrix evaluated at a reducible infinite dimensional representation acting in $`L^2(^2)`$. Note that eqn (37) is a particular case of the realization of universal $`R`$-matrices in the Drinfeld doubles of Hopf algebras in terms of solutions of the pentagon equation associated with the Heisenberg doubles .

### 6.1. Relation to Hopf algebras

To identify the generators of the quantum group, we first rewrite the $`R`$-matrix in the form

(39)
$$𝖱=Ad(𝖳_{1\widehat{2}}^1𝖳_{\stackrel{ˇ}{4}3})𝖳_{\widehat{2}\stackrel{ˇ}{4}}=Ad(𝖠_2𝖳_{12}^1𝖠_4^1𝖳_{43})𝖳_{24},$$

where

$$Ad(𝖺)𝗑\mathrm{𝖺𝗑𝖺}^1,$$

and we have used the pentagon equation (14). Let now operator $`𝖳`$ be written as a sum

$$𝖳=\underset{a}{}𝖾_a𝖾^a,$$

where two operator sets $`\{𝖾_a\}`$ and $`\{𝖾^a\}`$ are realizations of mutually dual linear bases of two (mutually dual) Hopf sub-algebras $`A_𝖳`$ and $`A_𝖳^{}`$ in the associated to $`𝖳`$ Heisenberg double $`H(A_𝖳)`$. Their co-products are given by the formulae

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(𝖾_a)=Ad(𝖳^1)(1𝖾_a),\mathrm{\Delta }(𝖾^a)=Ad(𝖳)(𝖾^a1).$$

From eqn (39) we conclude that the $`R`$-matrix is also decomposed into a sum

$$𝖱=\underset{a}{}𝖤_a𝖤^a$$

with

(40)
$$𝖤_a=Ad(𝖠_2𝖳^1)(1𝖾_a)=Ad(𝖠_2)\mathrm{\Delta }(𝖾_a),$$

(41)
$$𝖤^a=Ad(𝖠_2^1𝖳_{21})(1𝖾^a)=Ad(𝖠_2^1)\mathrm{\Delta }^{}(𝖾^a),$$

where $`\mathrm{\Delta }^{}`$ is the opposite co-product. These are also realizations of the Hopf algebras $`A_𝖳`$ and $`A_𝖳^{}`$, but this time within the Drinfeld double $`D(A_𝖳)`$.

### 6.2. Quantum Teichmüller theory and $`𝒰_q(𝔰𝔩(2))`$

Here we will see what quantum group and in which representation does correspond to our solution (21), (22).

From eqns (22), (2) we see that all elements $`\{𝖾_a\}`$ can be thought to be generated by operators $`𝗉`$ and $`e^{2\pi b^{\pm 1}𝗊}`$ with the co-product

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(𝗉)=𝗉_1+𝗉_2,\mathrm{\Delta }(e^{2\pi b^{\pm 1}𝗊})=e^{2\pi b^{\pm 1}(𝗊_1+𝗉_2)}+e^{2\pi b^{\pm 1}𝗊_2}.$$

Similarly dual elements $`\{𝖾^a\}`$ are generated by $`𝗊`$ and $`e^{2\pi b^{\pm 1}(𝗉𝗊)}`$ with the co-product

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(𝗊)=𝗊_1+𝗊_2,\mathrm{\Delta }(e^{2\pi b^{\pm 1}(𝗉𝗊)})=e^{2\pi b^{\pm 1}(𝗉_1𝗊_1𝗊_2)}+e^{2\pi b^{\pm 1}(𝗉_2𝗊_2)}.$$

From eqn (40) we deduce that operators

(42)
$$𝗀_{12}𝗉_1𝗊_2,𝖿_{12}^\pm e^{2\pi b^{\pm 1}(𝗊_1𝗊_2)}+e^{2\pi b^{\pm 1}(𝗉_2𝗊_2)}$$

generate the set $`\{𝖤_a\}`$, while according to eqn (41) the generators of the dual set $`\{𝖤^a\}`$ are the operators

(43)
$$𝗊_1𝗉_2=𝗀_{21},e^{2\pi b^{\pm 1}(𝗊_2𝗊_1)}+e^{2\pi b^{\pm 1}(𝗉_1𝗊_1)}=𝖿_{21}^\pm .$$

In what follows we restrict our attention to the sub-algebra corresponding to the positive exponent of parameter $`b`$.

###### Proposition 1.

Operators $`𝖿_{mn}𝖿_{mn}^+`$, $`𝗀_{mn}`$ ($`mn=12`$ or $`21`$) with the relations

$$[𝗀_{12},𝗀_{21}]=0,[𝗀_{mn},𝖿_{mn}]=𝗂b𝖿_{mn},[𝗀_{nm},𝖿_{mn}]=𝗂b𝖿_{mn},$$

$$[𝖿_{12},𝖿_{21}]=(qq^1)(e^{2\pi b𝗀_{12}}e^{2\pi b𝗀_{21}}),qe^{𝗂\pi b^2};$$

and the twisted co-product

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_\phi =Ad(e^{𝗂\phi (𝗀_{21}𝗀_{12}𝗀_{12}𝗀_{21})})\mathrm{\Delta },\phi ,$$

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(𝗀_{mn})=𝗀_{mn}1+1𝗀_{mn},$$

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(𝖿_{12})=𝖿_{12}e^{2\pi b𝗀_{12}}+1𝖿_{12},\mathrm{\Delta }(𝖿_{21})=e^{2\pi b𝗀_{21}}𝖿_{21}+𝖿_{21}1.$$

generate a Hopf algebra $`𝒢_\phi `$.

Algebra $`𝒢_{\pi /2}`$ is closely related with $`𝒰_q(𝔰𝔩(2))`$.

###### Definition 3.

333This definition is that of  without concretizing the star-structure, since the latter depends on a solution to the equation $`(1|b|)\mathrm{}b=0`$.

Quantum group $`𝒰_q(𝔰𝔩(2))`$ is a Hopf algebra with

* generators $`E,F,K,K^1`$;
* relations

$$KE=qEK,KF=q^1FK,[E,F]=(K^2K^2)/(qq^1);$$
* co-product

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(K)=KK,\mathrm{\Delta }(X)=XK+K^1X,X=E\mathrm{or}F.$$

###### Proposition 2.

There exists a faithful Hopf algebra homomorphism

$$\eta :𝒰_q(𝔰𝔩(2))𝒢_{\pi /2}$$

such that

$$Ke^{\pi b(𝗀_{12}𝗀_{21})/2},$$

$$Ee^{\pi b(c_b+𝗀_{21})}\frac{𝖿_{21}}{qq^1},F\frac{𝖿_{12}}{qq^1}e^{\pi b(c_b𝗀_{12})}.$$

The generators of algebra $`𝒢_\phi `$ depend on only three combinations of the Heisenberg operators $`𝗉_i,𝗊_i`$ ($`i=1,2`$)

$$𝗓_\beta (𝗉_1𝗊_1+𝗉_2𝗊_2)/2,$$

$$𝗉_\beta (𝗉_1+𝗊_1𝗉_2𝗊_2)/2,𝗊_\beta (𝗉_1+𝗊_1+𝗉_2𝗊_2)/2$$

which satisfy the commutation relations

$$[𝗓_\beta ,𝗉_\beta ]=[𝗓_\beta ,𝗊_\beta ]=0,[𝗉_\beta ,𝗊_\beta ]=(2\pi 𝗂)^1.$$

Subscript $`\beta `$ here refers to the associated to our operators contour around the interior vertex of a triangulated disk (with one interior vertex) in figure 8. In particular, in quantum Teichmüller theory operator $`𝗓_\beta `$ describes the spurious degree of freedom associated with contour $`\beta `$.

Substituting these definitions into eqns (42), (43) we obtain

$$𝗀_{12}=𝗓_\beta +𝗉_\beta ,𝗀_{21}=𝗓_\beta 𝗉_\beta ,$$

$$𝖿_{12}=2e^{2\pi b𝗊_\beta }e^{\pi b(𝗓_\beta +𝗉_\beta c_b)}\mathrm{sinh}(\pi b(𝗓_\beta 𝗉_\beta +c_b)),$$

$$𝖿_{21}=2e^{\pi b(𝗓_\beta 𝗉_\beta +c_b)}e^{2\pi b𝗊_\beta }\mathrm{sinh}(\pi b(𝗓_\beta +𝗉_\beta +c_b)),$$

while $`R`$-matrix (37) takes the form

(44)
$$𝖱=e^{𝗂2\pi (𝗉_{\beta _1}+𝗓_{\beta _1})(𝗉_{\beta _2}𝗓_{\beta _2})}Ad\left(\frac{\mathrm{e}_b(𝗉_{\beta _1}𝗓_{\beta _1})}{\mathrm{e}_b(𝗉_{\beta _2}+𝗓_{\beta _2})}\right)(\mathrm{e}_b(𝗊_{\beta _1}+𝗓_{\beta _1}𝗊_{\beta _2}𝗉_{\beta _2}))^1.$$

On the eigenvectors $`\xi ,x|`$ of operators $`𝗓_\beta `$ and $`𝗊_\beta `$,

$$\xi ,x|𝗓_\beta =\xi \xi ,x|,\xi ,x|𝗊_\beta =x\xi ,x|,\xi ,x|𝗉_\beta =\frac{1}{2\pi 𝗂}\frac{}{x}\xi ,x|,$$

algebra $`𝒢_\phi `$ is irreducibly represented for each fixed $`\xi `$, and these are exactly the representations from Schmüdgen’s classification list  considered by Ponsot and Teschner in .

###### Theorem 2.

If $`\mathrm{}b=0`$, the following equation holds

$$\xi ,x|\eta (a)=\pi _{𝗂(\xi c_b)}(a)\xi ,x|,a𝒰_q(𝔰𝔩(2)),$$

where representations $`\pi _\alpha `$, $`\alpha 𝗂(c_b)`$, are defined in eqn (12) of .

Now it becomes clear the relevance of the result of Ponsot and Teschner on the decomposition of the tensor products of the representations under consideration to the spectral problem of Dehn twists in quantum Teichmüller theory considered in section 5: the decomposition of tensor products of representations into irreducibles is essentially equivalent to the spectral problem of the $`R`$-matrix, while square of the latter is nothing else but a Dehn twist. Elaboration of this connection is to be published elsewhere.

## 7. Conclusion

In this paper we have described the spectrum of Dehn twists (Theorem 1) in the quantum Teichmüller theory and demonstrated appearance of certain infinite dimensional representations of the quantum group $`𝒰_q(𝔰𝔩(2))`$ (Theorem 2) studied in . This indicates a relationship between the two approaches to quantum Liouville theory: one through quantization of the Teichmüller spaces and another through representation theory of a non-compact quantum group. The result of  on the representation theory of the quantum Lorentz group is also likely to be relevant here. Besides, there should exist direct connections to quantum Liouville theory on a space-time lattice  where the non-compact quantum dilogarithm plays the central role too.

We have derived the $`R`$-matrix (associated with braidings in the mapping class groups) in terms of the non-compact quantum dilogarithm, formula (44), which first has been suggested by Faddeev in  as the universal $`𝒰_q(𝔰𝔩(2))`$ $`R`$-matrix for the corresponding modular double. Note that more general formula (37) directly follows from the canonical embedding of the Drinfeld doubles of Hopf algebras into tensor product of two Heisenberg doubles . Thus the explanation of section 6 can be considered as a geometrical view on the pure algebraic construction of . It is also worth mentioning that this $`R`$-matrix is the direct non-compact analogue of the finite dimensional $`R`$-matrix introduced in  which leads to a specialization of the colored Jones link invariants (polynomials)  with the particularly remarkable asymptotic behavior . In this light it would be interesting to study the corresponding non-compact analogue of the Jones invariants.


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# 1 The strictly isospectral potential and the deformed wavefunction (multiplied by 10 for the sake of visualization) obtained using the 𝑛=2 excited state of the harmonic oscillator as Darboux transformation function.

## Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Prof. R. Ruffini for hospitality at the ICRA center in Pescara. RK aknowledges Brazilian CAPES foundation for a grant.


text:
# Evidence from Type Ia Supernovae for an Accelerating Universe

## INTRODUCTION

Supernovae (SNe) come in two main varieties (see reference avf97b  for a review). Those whose optical spectra exhibit hydrogen are classified as Type II, while hydrogen-deficient SNe are designated Type I. SNe I are further subdivided according to the appearance of the early-time spectrum: SNe Ia are characterized by strong absorption near 6150 Å (now attributed to Si II), SNe Ib lack this feature but instead show prominent He I lines, and SNe Ic have neither the Si II nor the He I lines. SNe Ia are believed to result from the thermonuclear disruption of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs, while SNe II come from core collapse in massive supergiant stars. The latter mechanism probably produces most SNe Ib/Ic as well, but the progenitor stars previously lost their outer layers of hydrogen or even helium.

It has long been recognized that SNe Ia may be very useful distance indicators for a number of reasons; see bra92 ; bra98 , and references therein). (1) They are exceedingly luminous, with peak absolute blue magnitudes averaging $`19.2`$ if the Hubble constant, $`H_0`$, is 65 km s-1 Mpc-1. (2) “Normal” SNe Ia have small dispersion among their peak absolute magnitudes ($`\sigma 0.3`$ mag). (3) Our understanding of the progenitors and explosion mechanism of SNe Ia is on a reasonably firm physical basis. (4) Little cosmic evolution is expected in the peak luminosities of SNe Ia, and it can be modeled. This makes SNe Ia superior to galaxies as distance indicators. (5) One can perform local tests of various possible complications and evolutionary effects by comparing nearby SNe Ia in different environments.

Research on SNe Ia in the 1990s has demonstrated their enormous potential as cosmological distance indicators. Although there are subtle effects that must indeed be taken into account, it appears that SNe Ia provide among the most accurate values of $`H_0`$, $`q_0`$ (the deceleration parameter), $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$ (the matter density), and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ (the cosmological constant, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }c^2/3H_0^2`$).

There are now two major teams involved in the systematic investigation of high-redshift SNe Ia for cosmological purposes. The “Supernova Cosmology Project” (SCP) is led by Saul Perlmutter of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, while the “High-Z Supernova Search Team” (HZT) is led by Brian Schmidt of the Mt. Stromlo and Siding Springs Observatories. One of us (A.V.F.) has worked with both teams, but his primary allegiance is now with the HZT. In this paper we present results from the HZT.

## HOMOGENEITY AND HETEROGENEITY

The traditional way in which SNe Ia have been used for cosmological distance determinations has been to assume that they are perfect “standard candles” and to compare their observed peak brightness with those of SNe Ia in galaxies whose distances have been independently determined (e.g., Cepheids). The rationale is that SNe Ia exhibit relatively little scatter in their peak blue luminosity ($`\sigma _B0.4`$–0.5 mag; bra93 ), and even less if “peculiar” or highly reddened objects are eliminated from consideration by using a color cut. Moreover, the optical spectra of SNe Ia are usually rather homogeneous, if care is taken to compare objects at similar times relative to maximum brightness (rie97  and references therein). Over 80% of all SNe Ia discovered through the early 1990s were “normal” bfn93 .

From a Hubble diagram constructed with unreddened, moderately distant SNe Ia ($`z0.1`$) for which peculiar motions should be small and relative distances (as given by ratios of redshifts) are accurate, Vaughan et al. vau95  find that

$$<M_B(\mathrm{max})>=(19.74\pm 0.06)+5\mathrm{log}(H_0/50)\mathrm{mag}.$$
(1)
In a series of papers, Sandage et al. san96  and Saha et al. sah97  combine similar relations with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Cepheid distances to the host galaxies of seven SNe Ia to derive $`H_0=57\pm 4`$ km s-1 Mpc-1.

Over the past decade it has become clear, however, that SNe Ia do not constitute a perfectly homogeneous subclass (e.g., avf97b ; avf97a ). In retrospect this should have been obvious: the Hubble diagram for SNe Ia exhibits scatter larger than the photometric errors, the dispersion actually rises when reddening corrections are applied (under the assumption that all SNe Ia have uniform, very blue intrinsic colors at maximum; van92 ; san93 ), and there are some significant outliers whose anomalous magnitudes cannot possibly be explained by extinction alone.

Spectroscopic and photometric peculiarities have been noted with increasing frequency in well-observed SNe Ia. A striking case is SN 1991T; its pre-maximum spectrum did not exhibit Si II or Ca II absorption lines, yet two months past maximum brightness the spectrum was nearly indistinguishable from that of a classical SN Ia avf92b ; phi92 . The light curves of SN 1991T were slightly broader than the SN Ia template curves, and the object was probably somewhat more luminous than average at maximum. The reigning champion of well observed, peculiar SNe Ia is SN 1991bg avf92a ; lei93 ; tur96 . At maximum brightness it was subluminous by 1.6 mag in $`V`$ and 2.5 mag in $`B`$, its colors were intrinsically red, and its spectrum was peculiar (with a deep absorption trough due to Ti II). Moreover, the decline from maximum brightness was very steep, the $`I`$-band light curve did not exhibit a secondary maximum like normal SNe Ia, and the velocity of the ejecta was unusually low. The photometric heterogeneity among SNe Ia is well demonstrated by Suntzeff sun96a  with five objects having excellent $`BVRI`$ light curves.

## COSMOLOGICAL USES: LOW REDSHIFTS

Although SNe Ia can no longer be considered perfect “standard candles,” they are still exceptionally useful for cosmological distance determinations. Excluding those of low luminosity (which are hard to find, especially at large distances), most of the nearby SNe Ia that had been discovered through the early 1990s were nearly standard (bfn93 , but see Li et al. wli00a  for recent evidence of a higher intrinsic peculiarity rate). Also, after many tenuous suggestions (e.g., psk77 ; psk84 ; bra81 ), convincing evidence has finally been found for a correlation between light-curve shape and luminosity. Phillips phi93  achieved this by quantifying the photometric differences among a set of nine well-observed SNe Ia using a parameter, $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{15}(B)`$, which measures the total drop (in $`B`$ magnitudes) from maximum to $`t=15`$ days after $`B`$ maximum. In all cases the host galaxies of his SNe Ia have accurate relative distances from surface brightness fluctuations or from the Tully-Fisher relation. In $`B`$, the SNe Ia exhibit a total spread of $`2`$ mag in maximum luminosity, and the intrinsically bright SNe Ia clearly decline more slowly than dim ones. The range in absolute magnitude is smaller in $`V`$ and $`I`$, making the correlation with $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{15}(B)`$ less steep than in $`B`$, but it is present nonetheless.

Using SNe Ia discovered during the Calán/Tololo survey ($`z0.1`$), Hamuy et al. ham95 ; ham96b  confirm and refine the Phillips phi93  correlation between $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{15}(B)`$ and $`M_{max}(B,V)`$: it is not as steep as had been claimed. Apparently the slope is steep only at low luminosities; thus, objects such as SN 1991bg skew the slope of the best-fitting single straight line. Hamuy et al. reduce the scatter in the Hubble diagram of normal, unreddened SNe Ia to only 0.17 mag in $`B`$ and 0.14 mag in $`V`$; see also tri97 .

In a similar effort, Riess, Press, & Kirshner rpk95  show that the luminosity of SNe Ia correlates with the detailed shape of the overall light curve. They form a “training set” of light-curve shapes from 9 well-observed SNe Ia having known relative distances, including very peculiar objects (e.g., SN 1991bg). When the light curves of an independent sample of 13 SNe Ia (the Calán/Tololo survey) are analyzed with this set of basis vectors, the dispersion in the $`V`$-band Hubble diagram drops from 0.50 to 0.21 mag, and the Hubble constant rises from $`53\pm 11`$ to $`67\pm 7`$ km s-1 Mpc-1, comparable to the conclusions of Hamuy et al. ham95 ; ham96b . About half of the rise in $`H_0`$ results from a change in the position of the “ridge line” defining the linear Hubble relation, and half is from a correction to the luminosity of some of the local calibrators which appear to be unusually luminous (e.g., SN 1972E).

By using light-curve shapes measured through several different filters, Riess, Press, & Kirshner rpk96a  extend their analysis and objectively eliminate the effects of interstellar extinction: a SN Ia that has an unusually red $`BV`$ color at maximum brightness is assumed to be intrinsically subluminous if its light curves rise and decline quickly, or of normal luminosity but significantly reddened if its light curves rise and decline slowly. With a set of 20 SNe Ia consisting of the Calán/Tololo sample and their own objects, they show that the dispersion decreases from 0.52 mag to 0.12 mag after application of this “multi-color light curve shape” (MLCS) method. The results from a recent, expanded set of nearly 50 SNe Ia indicate that the dispersion decreases from 0.44 mag to 0.15 mag (Figure 1). The resulting Hubble constant is $`65\pm 2`$ (statistical) km s-1 Mpc-1, with an additional systematic and zero-point uncertainty of $`\pm 5`$ km s-1 Mpc-1. Riess et al. rpk96a  also show that the Hubble flow is remarkably linear; indeed, SNe Ia now constitute the best evidence for linearity. Finally, they argue that the dust affecting SNe Ia is not of circumstellar origin, and show quantitatively that the extinction curve in external galaxies typically does not differ from that in the Milky Way (cf. bra92 , but see tri98 ).

The advantage of systematically correcting the luminosities of SNe Ia at high redshifts rather than trying to isolate “normal” ones seems clear in view of evidence that the luminosity of SNe Ia may be a function of stellar population. If the most luminous SNe Ia occur in young stellar populations ham95 ; ham96a ; bra96 , then we might expect the mean peak luminosity of high-redshift SNe Ia to differ from that of a local sample. Alternatively, the use of Cepheids (Population I objects) to calibrate local SNe Ia can lead to a zero point that is too luminous. On the other hand, as long as the physics of SNe Ia is essentially the same in young stellar populations locally and at high redshift, we should be able to adopt the luminosity correction methods (photometric and spectroscopic) found from detailed studies of low-redshift SNe Ia.

Figure 1: Hubble diagrams for SNe Ia rie00b  with velocities (km s-1) in the COBE rest frame on the Cepheid distance scale. Top: The objects are assumed to be standard candles and there is no correction for extinction; the result is $`\sigma =0.42`$ mag and $`H_0=58\pm 8`$ km s-1 Mpc-1. Bottom: The same objects, after correction for reddening and intrinsic differences in luminosity. The result is $`\sigma =0.15`$ mag and $`H_0=65\pm 2`$ (statistical) km s-1 Mpc-1.

Large numbers of nearby SNe Ia are now being found by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS) conducted with the 0.76-m Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT; wli00a ; avf00a ). CCD images are taken of about 1000 galaxies per night and compared with KAIT “template images” obtained earlier; the templates are automatically subtracted from the new images and analyzed with computer software. The system reobserves the best candidates the same night, to eliminate star-like cosmic rays, asteroids, and other sources of false alarms. The next day, undergraduate students at UC Berkeley examine all candidates, including weak ones, and they glance at all subtracted images to locate SNe that might be near bright, poorly subtracted stars or galactic nuclei. LOSS discovered 20 SNe (of all types) in 1998 and 40 SNe in 1999, making it the world’s most successful search for nearby SNe. The most important objects were photometrically monitored through $`BVRI`$ (and sometimes $`U`$) filters (e.g., wli00b ), and unfiltered follow-up observations were made of all of them during the course of the SN search. This growing sample of well-observed SNe Ia should allow us to more precisely calibrate the MLCS method, as well as to look for correlations between the observed properties of the SNe and their environment (Hubble type of host galaxy, metallicity, stellar population, etc.).

## COSMOLOGICAL USES: HIGH REDSHIFTS

These same techniques can be applied to construct a Hubble diagram with high-redshift SNe Ia, from which the value of $`q_0`$ can be determined. With enough objects spanning a range of redshifts, we can determine $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ independently (e.g., goo95 ). Contours of peak apparent $`R`$-band magnitude for SNe Ia at two redshifts have different slopes in the $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$$`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ plane, and the regions of intersection provide the answers we seek.

### The Search

Based on the pioneering work of Norgaard-Nielsen et al. nor89 , whose goal was to find SNe in moderate-redshift clusters of galaxies, the SCP per97  and our HZT sch98  devised a strategy that almost guarantees the discovery of many faint, distant SNe Ia on demand, during a predetermined set of nights. This “batch” approach to studying distant SNe allows follow-up spectroscopy and photometry to be scheduled in advance, resulting in a systematic study not possible with random discoveries. Most of the searched fields are equatorial, permitting follow-up from both hemispheres.

Our approach is simple in principle; see sch98  for details, and for a description of our first high-redshift SN Ia (SN 1995K). Pairs of first-epoch images are obtained with the CTIO or CFHT 4-m telescopes and wide-angle imaging cameras during the nights just after new moon, followed by second-epoch images 3–4 weeks later. (Pairs of images permit removal of cosmic rays, asteroids, and distant Kuiper-belt objects.) These are compared immediately using well-tested software, and new SN candidates are identified in the second-epoch images (Figure 2). Spectra are obtained as soon as possible after discovery to verify that the objects are SNe Ia and determine their redshifts. Each team has already found over 80 SNe in concentrated batches, as reported in numerous IAU Circulars (e.g., per95 , 11 SNe with $`0.16z0.65`$; sun96b , 17 SNe with $`0.09z0.84`$).

Intensive photometry of the SNe Ia commences within a few days after procurement of the second-epoch images; it is continued throughout the ensuing and subsequent dark runs. In a few cases HST images are obtained. As expected, most of the discoveries are on the rise or near maximum brightness. When possible, the SNe are observed in filters which closely match the redshifted $`B`$ and $`V`$ bands; this way, the $`K`$-corrections become only a second-order effect kim96 . Custom-designed filters for redshifts centered on 0.35 and 0.45 are used by our HZT sch98 , when appropriate. We try to obtain excellent multi-color light curves, so that reddening and luminosity corrections can be applied rpk96a ; ham96a ; ham96b .

Figure 2: Discovery image of SN 1997cj (28 April 1997), along with the template image (7 April 1997) and an HST image obtained subsequently. The net (subtracted) image is also shown.

Although SNe in the magnitude range 22–22.5 can sometimes be spectroscopically confirmed with 4-m class telescopes, the signal-to-noise ratios are low, even after several hours of integration. Certainly Keck is required for the fainter objects (mag 22.5–24.5). With Keck, not only can we rapidly confirm a large number of candidate SNe, but we can search for peculiarities in the spectra that might indicate evolution of SNe Ia with redshift. Moreover, high-quality spectra allow us to measure the age of a supernova: we have developed a method for automatically comparing the spectrum of a SN Ia with a library of spectra corresponding to many different epochs in the development of SNe Ia rie97 . Our technique also has great practical utility at the telescope: we can determine the age of a SN “on the fly,” within half an hour after obtaining its spectrum. This allows us to rapidly decide which SNe are best for subsequent photometric follow-up, and we immediately alert our collaborators on other telescopes.

### Results

First, we note that the light curves of high-redshift SNe Ia are broader than those of nearby SNe Ia; the initial indications lei96 ; gol97  are amply confirmed with our larger samples. Quantitatively, the amount by which the light curves are “stretched” is consistent with a factor of $`1+z`$, as expected if redshifts are produced by the expansion of space rather than by “tired light.” We were also able to demonstrate this spectroscopically at the $`2\sigma `$ confidence level for a single object: the spectrum of SN 1996bj ($`z=0.57`$) evolved more slowly than those of nearby SNe Ia, by a factor consistent with $`1+z`$ rie97 . More recently, we have used observations of SN 1997ex ($`z=0.36`$) at three epochs to conclusively verify the effects of time dilation: temporal changes in the spectra are slower than those of nearby SNe Ia by roughly the expected factor of 1.36 avf00b .

Following our Spring 1997 campaign, in which we found a SN with $`z=0.97`$ (SN 1997ck), and for which we obtained HST follow-up images of three SNe, we published our first substantial results concerning the density of the Universe gar98a : $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.35\pm 0.3`$ under the assumption that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{total}}=1`$, or $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.1\pm 0.5`$ under the assumption that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$. Our independent analysis of 10 SNe Ia using the “snapshot” distance method (with which conclusions are drawn from sparsely observed SNe Ia) gives quantitatively similar conclusions rie98a .

Figure 3 (left): The upper panel shows the Hubble diagram for the low-redshift and high-redshift SN Ia samples with distances measured from the MLCS method; see rie98b . Overplotted are three world models: “low” and “high” $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$ with $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$, and the best fit for a flat universe ($`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.28`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.72`$). The bottom panel shows the difference between data and models from the $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.20`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ prediction. Except for SN 1997ck (open symbol; $`z=0.97`$), which lacks spectroscopic confirmation and was excluded from the fit, only the 9 best-observed high-redshift SNe Ia are shown. The average difference between the data and the $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.20`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ prediction is 0.25 mag.

Figure 4 (right): Joint confidence intervals for ($`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$,$`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$) from SNe Ia rie98b . The solid contours are results from the MLCS method applied to 10 well-observed SN Ia light curves, together with the snapshot method rie98a  applied to 6 incomplete SN Ia light curves. The dotted contours are for the same objects excluding SN 1997ck ($`z=0.97`$). Regions representing specific cosmological scenarios are illustrated.

Our next results, obtained from a total of 16 high-$`z`$ SNe Ia, were announced at a conference in February 1998 avf98  and formally published by Riess et al. rie98b  in September 1998. The Hubble diagram (from a refined version of the MLCS method rie98b ) for the 10 best-observed high-$`z`$ SNe Ia is given in Figure 3, while Figure 4 illustrates the derived confidence contours in the $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$$`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ plane. We confirm our previous suggestion that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$ is low. Even more exciting, however, is our conclusion that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is nonzero at the 3$`\sigma `$ statistical confidence level. With the MLCS method applied to the full set of 16 SNe Ia, our formal results are $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.24\pm 0.10`$ if $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{total}}=1`$, or $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.35\pm 0.18`$ (unphysical) if $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$. If we demand that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.2`$, then the best value for $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is $`0.66\pm 0.21`$. These conclusions do not change significantly if only the 9 best-observed SNe Ia are used (Figure 3; $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.28\pm 0.10`$ if $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{total}}=1`$). The $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{15}(B)`$ method yields similar results; if anything, the case for a positive cosmological constant strengthens. (For brevity, in this paper we won’t quote the $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{15}(B)`$ numbers; see rie98b  for details.) From an essentially independent set of 42 high-$`z`$ SNe Ia (only 2 objects in common), the SCP obtains almost identical results per99 . This suggests that neither team has made a large, simple blunder!

Recently, we have calibrated an additional sample of 9 high-$`z`$ SNe Ia, including several observed with HST. Preliminary analysis suggests that the new data are entirely consistent with the old results, thereby strengthening their statistical significance. Figure 5 shows the tentative Hubble diagram; full details will be published elsewhere.

Though not drawn in Figure 4, the expected confidence contours from measurements of the angular scale of the first acoustic peak of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) are nearly perpendicular to those provided by SNe Ia (e.g., zal97 ; eis98 ); thus, the two techniques provide complementary information. A stunning result was already available by mid-1998 from existing measurements han98 ; lin98 : our analysis of the data in rie98b  demonstrates that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M+\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.94\pm 0.26`$, when the SN and CMBR constraints are combined gar98b  (see also lin98 ; efs99 , and others). As shown in Figure 6, the confidence contours are nearly circular, instead of highly eccentric ellipses as in Figure 4. Just a few days before the Second Tropical Workshop, the more accurate and precise results of the BOOMERANG collaboration were announced deb00 , and shortly thereafter the MAXIMA collaboration distributed their very similar findings han00 ; bal00 ; the TOCO measurements mil99  are also relevant. The bottom line is that we appear to live in a flat universe: $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{total}}=1`$. Combined with the supernova results, the evidence for nonzero $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is strong. Making the argument even more compelling is the fact that various studies of clusters of galaxies (see summary by bah99 ) show that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M0.3`$, so if the CMBR results are correct, one is led to the independent conclusion that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }>0`$. We eagerly look forward to future CMBR measurements of even greater precision.

The dynamical age of the Universe can be calculated from the cosmological parameters. In an empty Universe with no cosmological constant, the dynamical age is simply the “Hubble time” (i.e., the inverse of the Hubble constant); there is no deceleration. SNe Ia yield $`H_0=65\pm 2`$ km s-1 Mpc-1 (statistical uncertainty only), and a Hubble time of $`15.1\pm 0.5`$ Gyr. For a more complex cosmology, integrating the velocity of the expansion from the current epoch ($`z=0`$) to the beginning ($`z=\mathrm{}`$) yields an expression for the dynamical age. As shown in detail by Riess et al. rie98b , we obtain a value of 14.2$`{}_{0.8}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+1.0}`$ Gyr using the likely range for $`(\mathrm{\Omega }_M,\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda })`$ that we measure. (The precision is so high because our experiment is sensitive to roughly the difference between $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, and the dynamical age also varies in approximately this way.) Including the systematic uncertainty of the Cepheid distance scale, which may be up to 10%, a reasonable estimate of the dynamical age is $`14.2\pm 1.7`$ Gyr.

Figure 5 (left): As in Figure 3, the upper panel shows the Hubble diagram for the low-$`z`$ and high-$`z`$ SN Ia samples. Here, we include preliminary analysis of 9 additional SNe Ia (open squares). The bottom panel shows the difference between data and models from the $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.20`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ prediction.

Figure 6 (right): The HZT’s combined constraints from SNe Ia (Figure 3) and the position of the first acoustic peak of the CMB angular power spectrum, based on data available in mid-1998; see gar98b . The contours mark the 68%, 95.4%, and 99.7% enclosed probability regions. Solid curves correspond to results from the MLCS method, while dotted ones are from the $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{15}(B)`$ method; all 16 SNe Ia in rie98b  were used.

This result is consistent with ages determined from various other techniques such as the cooling of white dwarfs (Galactic disk $`>9.5`$ Gyr osw96 ), radioactive dating of stars via the thorium and europium abundances ($`15.2\pm 3.7`$ Gyr cow97 ), and studies of globular clusters (10–15 Gyr, depending on whether Hipparcos parallaxes of Cepheids are adopted gra97 ; cha98 ). Evidently, there is no longer a problem that the age of the oldest stars seems greater than the dynamical age of the Universe.

## DISCUSSION

High-redshift SNe Ia are observed to be dimmer than expected in an empty Universe (i.e., $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0`$) with no cosmological constant. A cosmological explanation for this observation is that a positive vacuum energy density accelerates the expansion. Mass density in the Universe exacerbates this problem, requiring even more vacuum energy. For a Universe with $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.2`$, the average MLCS distance moduli of the well-observed SNe are 0.25 mag larger (i.e., 12.5% greater distances) than the prediction from $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$. The average MLCS distance moduli are still 0.18 mag bigger than required for a 68.3% (1$`\sigma `$) consistency in a universe with $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.2`$ and without a cosmological constant. The derived value of $`q_0`$ is $`0.75\pm 0.32`$, implying that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating. If $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ really is constant, then at least the region of the Universe we have observed ($`z0.8`$) will expand eternally. Under the simplifying assumption of global homogeneity and isotropy, the entire Universe will behave in this manner.

A very important point is that the dispersion in the peak luminosities of SNe Ia ($`\sigma =0.15`$ mag) is low after application of the MLCS method of rpk96a ; rie98b . With 16 SNe Ia, our effective uncertainty is $`0.15/40.04`$ mag, less than the expected difference of 0.25 mag between universes with $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ and 0.76 (and low $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$); see Figure 3. Systematic uncertainties of even 0.05 mag (e.g., in the extinction) are significant, and at 0.1 mag they dominate any decrease in statistical uncertainty gained with a larger sample of SNe Ia. Thus, our conclusions with only 16 SNe Ia are already limited by systematic uncertainties, not by statistical uncertainties — but of course the 9 new objects further strengthen our case.

Here we explore the major possible systematic effects that could invalidate our results. Of those that can be quantified at the present time, none appears to reconcile the data with $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$, though further work is necessary to verify this. Additional details can be found in sch98  and especially rie98b .

### Evolution

Perhaps the most obvious possible culprit is evolution of SNe Ia over cosmic time, due to changes in metallicity, progenitor mass, or some other factor. If the peak luminosity of SNe Ia were lower at high redshift, then the case for $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }>0`$ would weaken. Conversely, if the distant explosions are more powerful, then the case for acceleration strengthens. Theorists are not yet sure what the sign of the effect will be, if it’s present at all; different assumptions lead to different conclusions hof98 ; ume99 ; dom99 ; yun00 ; nom00 .

Of course, it is very difficult to obtain an independent measure of the peak luminosity of high-$`z`$ SNe Ia, and hence to directly test for luminosity evolution. However, we can more easily determine whether other observable properties of low-$`z`$ and high-$`z`$ SNe Ia differ. If they are all the same, it is more probable that the peak luminosity is constant as well — but if they differ, then the peak luminosity might also be affected (e.g., hof98 ). Drell et al. dre00 , for example, argue that there are reasons to suspect evolution, because the average properties of existing samples of high-$`z`$ and low-$`z`$ SNe Ia seem to differ (e.g., the high-$`z`$ SNe Ia are more uniform).

The local sample of SNe Ia displays a weak correlation between light-curve shape (or luminosity) and host galaxy type, in the sense that the most luminous SNe Ia with the broadest light curves only occur in late-type galaxies. Both early-type and late-type galaxies provide hosts for dimmer SNe Ia with narrower light curves ham96a . The mean luminosity difference for SNe Ia in late-type and early-type galaxies is $`0.3`$ mag. In addition, the SN Ia rate per unit luminosity is almost twice as high in late-type galaxies as in early-type galaxies at the present epoch cap97 . These results may indicate an evolution of SNe Ia with progenitor age. Possibly relevant physical parameters are the mass, metallicity, and C/O ratio of the progenitor hof98 .

We expect that the relation between light-curve shape and luminosity that applies to the range of stellar populations and progenitor ages encountered in the late-type and early-type hosts in our nearby sample should also be applicable to the range we encounter in our distant sample. In fact, the range of age for SN Ia progenitors in the nearby sample is likely to be larger than the change in mean progenitor age over the 4–6 Gyr lookback time to the high-$`z`$ sample. Thus, to first order at least, our local sample should correct our distances for progenitor or age effects.

We can place empirical constraints on the effect that a change in the progenitor age would have on our SN Ia distances by comparing subsamples of low-redshift SNe Ia believed to arise from old and young progenitors. In the nearby sample, the mean difference between the distances for the early-type (8 SNe Ia) and late-type hosts (19 SNe Ia), at a given redshift, is 0.04 $`\pm `$ 0.07 mag from the MLCS method. This difference is consistent with zero. Even if the SN Ia progenitors evolved from one population at low redshift to the other at high redshift, we still would not explain the surplus in mean distance of 0.25 mag over the $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ prediction.

Moreover, it is reassuring that initial comparisons of high-redshift SN Ia spectra appear remarkably similar to those observed at low redshift. For example, the spectral characteristics of SN 1998ai ($`z=0.49`$) appear to be essentially indistinguishable from those of normal low-redshift SNe Ia; see Figure 7. In fact, the most obviously discrepant spectrum in this figure is the second one from the top, that of SN 1994B ($`z=0.09`$); it is intentionally included as a “decoy” that illustrates the degree to which even the spectra of nearby, relatively normal SNe Ia can vary. Nevertheless, it is important to note that a dispersion in luminosity (perhaps 0.2 mag) exists even among the other, more normal SNe Ia shown in Figure 7; thus, our spectra of SN 1998ai and other high-redshift SNe Ia are not yet sufficiently good for independent, precise determinations of luminosity from spectral features nug95 . Many of them, however, are sufficient for ruling out other supernovae types (Figure 8), or for identifying gross peculiarities such as those shown by SNe 1991T and 1991bg; see Coil et al. coi00 .

We can help verify that the SNe at $`z0.5`$ being used for cosmology do not belong to a subluminous population of SNe Ia by examining restframe $`I`$-band light curves. Normal, nearby SNe Ia show a pronounced second maximum in the $`I`$ band about a month after the first maximum and typically about 0.5 mag fainter (e.g., for93 ; sun96a ). Subluminous SNe Ia, in contrast, do not show this second maximum, but rather follow a linear decline or show a muted second maximum avf92a . As discussed by Riess et al. rie00a , some evidence for the second maximum is seen from our existing $`J`$-band (restframe $`I`$-band) data on SN 1999Q ($`z=0.46`$); see Figure 9. However, better data on more SNe Ia are needed to confirm the effect.

Figure 7 (left): Spectral comparison (in $`f_\lambda `$) of SN 1998ai ($`z=0.49`$; Keck spectrum) with low-redshift ($`z<0.1`$) SNe Ia at a similar age ($`5`$ days before maximum brightness), from rie98b . The spectra of the low-redshift SNe Ia were resampled and convolved with Gaussian noise to match the quality of the spectrum of SN 1998ai. Overall, the agreement in the spectra is excellent, tentatively suggesting that distant SNe Ia are physically similar to nearby SNe Ia. SN 1994B ($`z=0.09`$) differs the most from the others, and was included as a “decoy.”

Figure 8 (right): Heavily smoothed spectra of two high-$`z`$ SNe (SN 1999ff at $`z=0.455`$ and SN 1999fv at $`z=1.19`$; quite noisy below $``$3500 Å) are presented along with several low-$`z`$ SN Ia spectra (SNe 1989B, 1992A, and 1981B), a SN Ib spectrum (SN 1993J), and a SN Ic spectrum (SN 1994I); see avf97b  for a discussion of spectra of various types of SNe. The date of the spectra relative to $`B`$-band maximum is shown in parentheses after each object’s name. Specific features seen in SN 1999ff and labeled with a letter are discussed by Coil et al. coi00 . This comparison shows that the two high-$`z`$ SNe are most likely SNe Ia.

Another way of using light curves to test for possible evolution of SNe Ia is to see whether the rise time (from explosion to maximum brightness) is the same for high-$`z`$ and low-$`z`$ SNe Ia; a difference might indicate that the peak luminosities are also different hof98 . We recently measured the risetime of nearby SNe Ia, using data from KAIT, the Beijing Astronomical Observatory (BAO) SN search, and a few amateur astronomers rie99b . Though the exact value of the risetime is a function of peak luminosity, for typical low-$`z`$ SNe Ia we find $`20.0\pm 0.2`$ days. We pointed out rie99a  that this differs by $`5.8\sigma `$ from the preliminary risetime of $`17.5\pm 0.4`$ days reported in conferences by the SCP gol98a ; gol98b ; gro98 . However, a more thorough analysis of the SCP data ald00  shows that the high-$`z`$ uncertainty of $`\pm 0.4`$ days that the SCP originally reported was much too small because it did not account for systematic effects. The revised discrepancy with the low-$`z`$ risetime is about $`2\sigma `$ or less. Thus, the apparent difference in risetimes might be insignificant. Even if the difference is real, however, its relevance to the peak luminosity is unclear; the light curves may differ only in the first few days after the explosion, and this could be caused by small variations in conditions near the outer part of the exploding white dwarf that are inconsequential at the peak.

### Extinction

Our SN Ia distances have the important advantage of including corrections for interstellar extinction occurring in the host galaxy and the Milky Way. Extinction corrections based on the relation between SN Ia colors and luminosity improve distance precision for a sample of nearby SNe Ia that includes objects with substantial extinction rpk96a ; the scatter in the Hubble diagram is much reduced. Moreover, the consistency of the measured Hubble flow from SNe Ia with late-type and early-type hosts (see above) shows that the extinction corrections applied to dusty SNe Ia at low redshift do not alter the expansion rate from its value measured from SNe Ia in low dust environments.

In practice, our high-redshift SNe Ia appear to suffer negligible extinction; their $`BV`$ colors at maximum brightness are normal, suggesting little color excess due to reddening. Riess, Press, & Kirshner rpk96b  found indications that the Galactic ratios between selective absorption and color excess are similar for host galaxies in the nearby ($`z0.1`$) Hubble flow. Yet, what if these ratios changed with lookback time (e.g., agu99a )? Could an evolution in dust grain size descending from ancestral interstellar “pebbles” at higher redshifts cause us to underestimate the extinction? Large dust grains would not imprint the reddening signature of typical interstellar extinction upon which our corrections rely.

However, viewing our SNe through such gray interstellar grains would also induce a dispersion in the derived distances. Using the results of Hatano, Branch, & Deaton hat98 , Riess et al. rie98b  estimate that the expected dispersion would be 0.40 mag if the mean gray extinction were 0.25 mag (the value required to explain the measured MLCS distances without a cosmological constant). This is significantly larger than the 0.21 mag dispersion observed in the high-redshift MLCS distances. Furthermore, most of the observed scatter is already consistent with the estimated statistical errors, leaving little to be caused by gray extinction. Nevertheless, if we assumed that all of the observed scatter were due to gray extinction, the mean shift in the SN Ia distances would only be 0.05 mag. With the observations presented here, we cannot rule out this modest amount of gray interstellar extinction.

Gray intergalactic extinction could dim the SNe without either telltale reddening or dispersion, if all lines of sight to a given redshift had a similar column density of absorbing material. The component of the intergalactic medium with such uniform coverage corresponds to the gas clouds producing Lyman-$`\alpha `$ forest absorption at low redshifts. These clouds have individual H I column densities less than about $`10^{15}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ bah96 . However, they display low metallicities, typically less than 10% of solar. Gray extinction would require larger dust grains which would need a larger mass in heavy elements than typical interstellar grain size distributions to achieve a given extinction. It is possible that large dust grains are blown out of galaxies by radiation pressure, and are therefore not associated with Lyman-$`\alpha `$ clouds agu99b .

Figure 9 (left): Restframe $`I`$-band (observed $`J`$-band) light curve of SN 1999Q ($`z=0.46`$, 5 solid points; rie00a ), superposed on the $`I`$-band light curves of several nearby SNe Ia. Subluminous SNe Ia exhibit a less prominent second maximum than do normal SNe Ia.

Figure 10 (right): Color excess, $`E_{BI}`$, for SN 1999Q and different dust models rie00a . The data are most consistent with no dust and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }>0`$.

But even the dust postulated by Aguirre agu99a ; agu99b ; agu99c  is not completely gray, having a size of about 0.1 $`\mu `$m. We can test for such nearly gray dust by observing high-redshift SNe Ia over a wide wavelength range to measure the color excess it would introduce. If $`A_V=0.25`$ mag, then $`E(UI)`$ and $`E(BI)`$ should be 0.12–0.16 mag agu99a ; agu99b . If, on the other hand, the 0.25 mag faintness is due to $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, then no such reddening should be seen. This effect is measurable using proven techniques; so far, with just one SN Ia (SN 1999Q; Figure 10), our results favor the no-dust hypothesis to better than 2$`\sigma `$ rie00a , but more work along these lines is certainly warranted.

Suppose, though, that for some reason the dust is very gray, or our color measurements are not sufficiently precise to rule out Aguirre’s (or other) dust. If the cumulative amount of gray dust along the line of sight grows linearly with increasing redshift, we expect that the deviation of the SN Ia peak apparent magnitude from the low-$`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$, zero-$`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ model (Figure 3) will continue growing, to first order (Figure 11). If, on the other hand, the observed faintness of high-$`z`$ SNe Ia is a consequence of positive $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, the deviation should actually begin to decrease at $`z0.8`$ (Figure 11). In essence, we are looking so far back in time that the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ effect becomes small compared with $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$; the Universe is decelerating at that epoch. Thus, we are embarking on a campaign to find and monitor $`z=0.8`$–1.2 SNe Ia. Given the expected uncertainties (Figure 11), a sample of 10–20 SNe Ia should give a good statistical result.

Note that this test also applies to other systematic effects that grow monotonically with redshift, as may be expected of possible evolution of the white dwarf progenitors (e.g., hof98 ; ume99 ), or gravitational lensing wam98 . Indeed, this is our most decisive test to distinguish between $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ and systematic effects. Unless evolution of dust, or of the progenitors, or of the lenses is fixed in such a way as to mimic the effects of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ (e.g., dre00 ), our claim of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }>0`$ will become much more convincing if the deviation of apparent magnitude decreases in the expected manner. Such a turnover (Figure 11) can be considered the “smoking gun” of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$.

Figure 11: The HZT SN Ia data from Figure 3 (open circles) are plotted relative to an empty universe (horizontal line). The two faint curves are the best-fitting $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ model, and the $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=1`$ ($`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$) model. The darker curve shows a systematic bias that increases linearly with $`z`$ and is consistent with our $`z=0.5`$ data. The expected observational uncertainties of hypothetical SNe Ia at redshifts of 0.85 and 1.2 are shown (filled circles).

## CONCLUSIONS

The luminosity distances of the high-redshift Type Ia supernovae studied by the High-z Supernova Search Team exceed the prediction of a low mass-density ($`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$ $`0.2`$) universe by about 0.25 mag. A cosmological explanation is provided by a positive cosmological constant at roughly the 3$`\sigma `$ confidence level, with the prior belief that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M0`$. We also find that the expansion of the Universe is currently accelerating ($`q_00`$, where $`q_0\mathrm{\Omega }_M/2\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$). The independent results of the Supernova Cosmology Project are fully consistent with these conclusions. Moreover, recent precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation strongly suggest that the Universe is flat ($`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{total}}=\mathrm{\Omega }_M+\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=1`$); hence, if $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M0.3`$ (as suggested by many studies, such as of clusters of galaxies), then about 70% of the energy density of the Universe must consist of vacuum energy whose precise nature and evolution are unknown (but definitely not radiation, normal matter, or dark matter). Using the best current values of the Hubble constant, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$, and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, we find that the dynamical age of the Universe is 14.2 $`\pm 1.7`$ Gyr, including systematic uncertainties in the Cepheid distance scale used for the host galaxies of three nearby SNe Ia. This value is comparable to the derived ages of globular star clusters.

Though the consistent results from the microwave background experiments are reassuring, we are in the process of testing as exhaustively as possible all systematic biases that could be affecting the SN Ia results. For example, qualitative comparisons of spectra of low-$`z`$ and high-$`z`$ SNe Ia do not reveal obvious differences, and quantitative tests are in progress. Moreover, the restframe $`I`$-band light curves of low-$`z`$ SNe Ia and a single measured high-$`z`$ SN Ia look similar, as do their broadband colors. The risetimes of low-$`z`$ and high-$`z`$ SNe Ia may differ a little, but the statistical significance of this result is not high, and in any case the early part of the light curve may have little bearing on the peak luminosity. Further tests are in progress. Compelling evidence for acceleration may come in the next few years from a comparison of the peak apparent brightness of $`z0.8`$ SNe Ia with the predictions of various models; the signature of nonzero $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is quite distinct from that of dust, SN evolution, or other effects that grown with redshift.

## ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank all of our collaborators in the HZT for their contributions to this work. A.V.F.’s supernova research at U.C. Berkeley is supported by NSF grants AST-9417213 and AST-9987438, and by grants GO-7505 and GO-8177 from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. A.V.F. is grateful to the meeting organizers for travel funds.