Comparing the ejecta velocities at maximum brightness and narrow circumstellar/interstellar Na D absorption line profiles of a sample of 23 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), we determine that the properties of SN Ia progenitor systems and explosions are intimately connected. As demonstrated by Sternberg et al., half of all SNe Ia with detectable Na D absorption at the host-galaxy redshift in high-resolution spectroscopy have Na D line profiles with significant blueshifted absorption relative to the strongest absorption component, which indicates that a large fraction of SN Ia progenitor systems have strong outflows. In this study, we find that SNe Ia with blueshifted circumstellar/interstellar absorption systematically have higher ejecta velocities and redder colors at maximum brightness relative to the rest of the SN Ia population. This result is robust at a 98.9%-99.8% confidence level, providing the first link between the progenitor systems and properties of the explosion. This finding is further evidence that the outflow scenario is the correct interpretation of the blueshifted Na D absorption, adding additional confirmation that some SNe Ia are produced from a single-degenerate progenitor channel. An additional implication is that either SN Ia progenitor systems have highly asymmetric outflows that are also aligned with the SN explosion or SNe Ia come from a variety of progenitor systems where SNe Ia from systems with strong outflows tend to have more kinetic energy per unit mass than those from systems with weak or no outflows.

Using a mid-infrared calibration of the Cepheid distance scale based on recent observations at 3.6 mu m with the Spitzer Space Telescope, we have obtained a new, high-accuracy calibration of the Hubble constant. We have established the mid-IR zero point of the Leavitt law (the Cepheid period-luminosity relation) using time-averaged 3.6 mu m data for 10 high-metallicity, Milky Way Cepheids having independently measured trigonometric parallaxes. We have adopted the slope of the PL relation using time-averaged 3.6 mu m data for 80 long-period Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) Cepheids falling in the period range 0.8 < log(P) < 1.8. We find a new reddening-corrected distance to the LMC of 18.477 +/- 0.033 (systematic) mag. We re-examine the systematic uncertainties in H-0, also taking into account new data over the past decade. In combination with the new Spitzer calibration, the systematic uncertainty in H-0 over that obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project has decreased by over a factor of three. Applying the Spitzer calibration to the Key Project sample, we find a value of H-0 = 74.3 with a systematic uncertainty of +/- 2.1 (systematic) km s(-1) Mpc(-1), corresponding to a 2.8% systematic uncertainty in the Hubble constant. This result, in combination with WMAP7 measurements of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies and assuming a flat universe, yields a value of the equation of state for dark energy, w(0) = -1.09 +/- 0.10. Alternatively, relaxing the constraints on flatness and the numbers of relativistic species, and combining our results with those of WMAP7, Type Ia supernovae and baryon acoustic oscillations yield w(0) = -1.08 +/- 0.10 and a value of N-eff = 4.13 +/- 0.67, mildly consistent with the existence of a fourth neutrino species.

In this paper we use near-infrared (NIR) spectral observations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) to study the uncertainties inherent in NIR K corrections. To do so, 75 previously published NIR spectra of 33 SNe Ia are employed to determine K-correction uncertainties in the YJHK(s) passbands as a function of temporal phase and redshift. The resultant K corrections are then fed into an interpolation algorithm that provides mean K corrections as a function of temporal phase and robust estimates of the associated errors. These uncertainties are both statistical and intrinsic-i.e., due to the diversity of spectral features from object to object and must be included in the overall error budget of cosmological parameters constrained through the use of NIR observations of SNe Ia. Intrinsic variations are likely the dominant source of error for all four passbands at maximum light. Given the present data, the total Y-band K-correction uncertainties at maximum are smallest, amounting to +/- 0.04 mag at a redshift of z = 0.08. The J-band K-term errors are also reasonably small (+/- 0.06 mag), but intrinsic variations of spectral features and noise introduced by telluric corrections in the H-band currently limit its total K-correction errors at maximum to +/- 0.10 mag at z = 0.08. Finally, uncertainties in the K-s-band K terms at maximum amount to +/- 0.07 mag at this same redshift. These results are largely constrained by the small number of published NIR spectra of SNe Ia, which do not yet allow spectral templates to be constructed as a function of the light curve decline rate.

We present an updated analysis of the intrinsic colors of Type Ia supernova (SNe Ia) using the latest data release of the Carnegie Supernova Project. We introduce a new light-curve parameter very similar to stretch that is better suited for fast-declining events, and find that these peculiar types can be seen as extensions to the population of "normal" SNe Ia. With a larger number of objects, an updated fit to the Lira relation is presented along with evidence for a dependence on the late-time slope of the B - V light-curves with stretch and color. Using the full wavelength range from u to H band, we place constraints on the reddening law for the sample as a whole and also for individual events/hosts based solely on the observed colors. The photometric data continue to favor low values of R-V, though with large variations from event to event, indicating an intrinsic distribution. We confirm the findings of other groups that there appears to be a correlation between the derived reddening law, R-V, and the color excess, E(B - V), such that larger E(B - V) tends to favor lower R-V. The intrinsic u-band colors show a relatively large scatter that cannot be explained by variations in R-V or by the Goobar power-law for circumstellar dust, but rather is correlated with spectroscopic features of the supernova and is therefore likely due to metallicity effects.

A comprehensive set of optical and near-infrared (NIR) photometry and spectroscopy is presented for the faint and fast 2008ha-like supernova (SN) 2010ae. Contingent on the adopted value of host extinction, SN 2010ae reached a peak brightness of -13.8 > M-V > -15.3 mag, while modeling of the UVOIR light curve suggests it produced 0.003-0.007 M-circle dot of Ni-56, ejected 0.30-0.60 M-circle dot of material, and had an explosion energy of 0.04-0.30 x 10(51) erg. The values of these explosion parameters are similar to the peculiar SN 2008ha -for which we also present previously unpublished early phase optical and NIR light curves - and places these two transients at the faint end of the 2002cx-like SN population. Detailed inspection of the post-maximum NIR spectroscopic sequence indicates the presence of a multitude of spectral features, which are identified through SYNAPPS modeling to be mainly attributed to Co II. Comparison with a collection of published and unpublished NIR spectra of other 2002cx-like SNe, reveals that a Co II footprint is ubiquitous to this subclass of transients, providing a link to Type Ia SNe. A visual-wavelength spectrum of SN 2010ae obtained at +252 days past maximum shows a striking resemblance to a similar epoch spectrum of SN 2002cx. However, subtle differences in the strength and ratio of calcium emission features, as well as diversity among similar epoch spectra of other 2002cx-like SNe indicates a range of physical conditions of the ejecta, highlighting the heterogeneous nature of this peculiar class of transients.

We present photospheric-phase observations of LSQ12gdj, a slowly declining, UV-bright Type Ia supernova. Classified well before maximum light, LSQ12gdj has extinction-corrected absolute magnitude M-B = -19.8, and pre-maximum spectroscopic evolution similar to SN 1991T and the super-Chandrasekhar-mass SN 2007if. We use ultraviolet photometry from Swift, ground-based optical photometry, and corrections from a near-infrared photometric template to construct the bolometric (1600-23 800 angstrom) light curve out to 45 d past B-band maximum light. We estimate that LSQ12gdj produced 0.96 +/- 0.07 M-circle dot of Ni-56, with an ejected mass near or slightly above the Chandrasekhar mass. As much as 27 per cent of the flux at the earliest observed phases, and 17 per cent at maximum light, is emitted bluewards of 3300 angstrom. The absence of excess luminosity at late times, the cutoff of the spectral energy distribution bluewards of 3000 angstrom and the absence of narrow line emission and strong Na I D absorption all argue against a significant contribution from ongoing shock interaction. However, similar to 10 per cent of LSQ12gdj's luminosity near maximum light could be produced by the release of trapped radiation, including kinetic energy thermalized during a brief interaction with a compact, hydrogen-poor envelope (radius < 10(13) cm) shortly after explosion; such an envelope arises generically in double-degenerate merger scenarios.

We present optical and near infrared (NIR) observations of the nearby Type Ia SN 2014J. Seventeen optical and 23 NIR spectra were obtained from 10 days before (-10d) to 10 days after (+10d) the time of maximum B-band brightness. The relative strengths of absorption features and their patterns of development can be compared at one day intervals throughout most of this period. Carbon is not detected in the optical spectra, but we identify C I lambda 1.0693 in the NIR spectra. Mg II lines with high oscillator strengths have higher initial velocities than other Mg II lines. We show that the velocity differences can be explained by differences in optical depths due to oscillator strengths. The spectra of SN 2014J show that it is a normal SN Ia, but many parameters are near the boundaries between normal and high-velocity subclasses. The velocities for OI, Mg II, Si II, S Ca a, and Fell suggest that SN 2014J has a layered structure with little or no mixing. That result is consistent with the delayed detonation explosion models. We also report photometric observations, obtained from -10d to +29d, in the UBVRIJH and K-s bands. The template fitting package SNooPy is used to interpret the light curves and to derive photometric parameters. Using R-v = 1.46, which is consistent with previous studies, SNooPy finds that A(v) = 1.80 for E(B - V)(host) = 1.23 +/- 0.06 mag. The maximum B-band brightness of -19.19 +/- 0.10 mag was reached on February 1.74 UT +/- 0.13 days and the supernova has a decline parameter, Delta m(15), of 1.12 +/- 0.02 mag.

We present ultraviolet through near-infrared (NIR) broadband photometry, and visual-wavelength and NIR spectroscopy of the Type lax supernova (SN) 2012Z. The data set consists of both early- and late-time observations, including the first late phase NIR spectrum obtained for a spectroscopically classified SN lax. Simple model calculations of its bolometric light curve suggest SN 2012Z produced similar to 0.3 M-circle dot of Ni-56, ejected about a Chandrasekhar mass of material, and had an explosion energy of similar to 10(51) erg, making it one of the brightest (M-B = -18.3 mag) and most energetic SN Iax yet observed. The late phase (+269d) NIR spectrum of SN 2012Z is found to broadly resemble similar epoch spectra of normal SNe Ia; however, like other SNe Iax, corresponding visual-wavelength spectra differ substantially from all supernova types. Constraints from the distribution of intermediate mass elements, e.g., silicon and magnesium, indicate that the outer ejecta did not experience significant mixing during or after burning, and the late phase NIR line profiles suggests most of the Ni-56 is produced during high density burning. The various observational properties of SN 2012Z are found to be consistent with the theoretical expectations of a Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf progenitor that experiences a pulsational delayed detonation, which produced several tenths of a solar mass of Ni-56 during the deflagration burning phase and little (or no) Ni-56 during the detonation phase. Within this scenario only a moderate amount of Rayleigh-Taylor mixing occurs both during the deflagration and fallback phase of the pulsation, and the layered structure of the intermediate mass elements is a product of the subsequent denotation phase. The fact that the SNe lax population does not follow a tight brightness-decline relation similar to SNe Ia can then be understood in the framework of variable amounts of mixing during pulsational rebound and variable amounts of Ni-56 production during the early subsonic phase of expansion.

We study the optical light curve (LC) relations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) for their use in cosmology using high-quality photometry published by the Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP-I). We revisit the classical luminosity decline rate (Delta m(15)) relation and the Lira relation, as well as investigate the time evolution of the (B V) color and B(B - V), which serves as the basis of the color-stretch relation and Color-MAgnitude Intercept Calibrations (CMAGIC). Our analysis is based on explosion and radiation transport simulations for spherically symmetric delayed-detonation models (DDT) producing normal-bright and subluminous SNe. Ia. Empirical LC relations can be understood as having the same physical underpinnings, i.e., opacities, ionization balances in the photosphere, and radioactive energy deposition changing with time from below to above the photosphere. Some three to four weeks past maximum, the photosphere recedes to Ni-56-rich layers of similar density structure, leading to a similar color evolution. An important secondary parameter is the central density rho(c) of the WD because at higher densities, more electron-capture elements are produced at the expense of Ni-56 production. This results in a.m15 spread of 0.1 mag in normal-bright and 0.7 mag in subluminous SNe. Ia and approximate to 0.2 mag in the Lira relation. We show why color-magnitude diagrams emphasize the transition between physical regimes and enable the construction of templates that depend mostly on Delta(m15) with little dispersion in both the CSP-I sample and our DDT models. This allows intrinsic SN. Ia variations to be separated from the interstellar reddening characterized by E (B - V) and R-B. Invoking different scenarios causes a wide spread in empirical relations, which may suggest one dominant scenario.

We present final natural-system optical (ugriBV) and near-infrared (YJH) photometry of 134 supernovae (SNe) with probable white dwarf progenitors that were observed in 2004-2009 as part of the first stage of the Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP-I). The sample consists of 123 Type. Ia SNe, 5 Type. Iax SNe, 2 super-Chandrasekhar SN candidates, 2 Type. Ia SNe interacting with circumstellar matter, and 2 SN. 2006bt-like events. The redshifts of the objects range from z = 0.0037 to 0.0835; the median redshift is 0.0241. For 120 (90%) of these SNe, near-infrared photometry was obtained. Average optical extinction coefficients and color terms are derived and demonstrated to be stable during the five CSP-I observing campaigns. Measurements of the CSP-I near-infrared bandpasses are also described, and near-infrared color terms are estimated through synthetic photometry of stellar atmosphere models. Optical and near-infrared magnitudes of local sequences of tertiary standard stars for each supernova are given, and a new calibration of Y-band magnitudes of the Persson et al. standards in the CSP-I natural system is presented.