CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 19,704Cosmology and Gravitation TheoriesGamma-ray bursts and supernovaeAstrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena

Observational Evidence from Supernovae for an Accelerating Universe and a Cosmological Constant

Open access
Riess, Adam G., Filippenko, Alexei V., Challis, Peter, Clocchiatti, Alejandro, Diercks, Alan, Garnavich, Peter M., Gilliland, Ron L., Hogan, Craig J. +12 more·1998·The Astronomical Journal
DOI 10.1086/300499
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

We present spectral and photometric observations of 10 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in the redshift range 0.16 ≤ z ≤ 0.62. The luminosity distances of these objects are determined by methods that employ relations between SN Ia luminosity and light curve shape. Combined with previous data from our High- z Supernova Search Team and recent results by Riess et al., this expanded set of 16 high-redshift supernovae and a set of 34 nearby supernovae are used to place constraints on the following cosmological parameters: the Hubble constant ( H 0 ), the mass density (Ω M ), the cosmological constant (i.e., the vacuum energy density, Ω Λ ), the deceleration parameter ( q 0 ), and the dynamical age of the universe ( t 0 ). The distances of the high-redshift SNe Ia are, on average, 10%–15% farther than expected in a low mass density (Ω M = 0.2) universe without a cosmological constant. Different light curve fitting methods, SN Ia subsamples, and prior constraints unanimously favor eternally expanding models with positive cosmological constant (i.e., Ω Λ > 0) and a current acceleration of the expansion (i.e., q 0 < 0). With no prior constraint on mass density other than Ω M ≥ 0, the spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia are statistically consistent with q 0 < 0 at the 2.8 σ and 3.9 σ confidence levels, and with Ω Λ > 0 at the 3.0 σ and 4.0 σ confidence levels, for two different fitting methods, respectively. Fixing a "minimal" mass density, Ω M = 0.2, results in the weakest detection, Ω Λ > 0 at the 3.0 σ confidence level from one of the two methods. For a flat universe prior (Ω M + Ω Λ = 1), the spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia require Ω Λ > 0 at 7 σ and 9 σ formal statistical significance for the two different fitting methods. A universe closed by ordinary matter (i.e., Ω M = 1) is formally ruled out at the 7 σ to 8 σ confidence level for the two different fitting methods. We estimate the dynamical age of the universe to be 14.2 ± 1.7 Gyr including systematic uncertainties in the current Cepheid distance scale. We estimate the likely effect of several sources of systematic error, including progenitor and metallicity evolution, extinction, sample selection bias, local perturbations in the expansion rate, gravitational lensing, and sample contamination. Presently, none of these effects appear to reconcile the data with Ω Λ = 0 and q 0 ≥ 0.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1086/300499

Cites

110 of 110 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • In the standard model, dark energy is the cosmological constant Λ, without any strong physical basis.

    “the dark energy (DE) [6,7] component, introduced to explain the current stage of accelerated expansion, in the standard model is the cosmological constant term Λ, without any strong physical basis.”

    From Challenges of the Standard Cosmological Model (2022) · cites this paper as [6]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) presents a positive vacuum energy density, associated with a cosmological constant, as an explanation for accelerated expansion. It does not say that this is the standard model’s dark-energy component or that the cosmological constant lacks a strong physical basis. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • A mechanism for such an instability may be provided by the small positive cosmological constant that has apparently been discovered.

    “A mechanism for such an instability may be provided by the small positive cosmological constant that has apparently been discovered [16, 17, 18].”

    From Spontaneous inflation and the origin of the arrow of time (2004) · cites this paper as [16]

    The paper reports that high-redshift supernova observations strongly favor a positive cosmological constant (models section; page not supplied), supporting the sentence’s reference to an apparent discovery. It does not propose the cosmological constant as a mechanism for the instability mentioned by the citing authors. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The universe's expansion is speeding up rather than slowing down.

    “Two decades ago, two independent groups using supernova measurements found that the universe’s expansion is speeding up rather than slowing down (Riess et al. 1998; Perlmutter et al. 1999).”

    From Testing general relativity in cosmology (2019) · cites this paper as Riess et al. 1998

  • One of the first compelling evidences for cosmic acceleration came from Supernovae type Ia observations.

    “One of the first compelling evidences for cosmic acceleration came from Supernovae type Ia (SN Ia) observations (Riess et al. 1998; Perlmutter et al. 1999).”

    From Testing general relativity in cosmology (2019) · cites this paper as Riess et al. 1998

  • In the presence of a small positive vacuum energy, systems will tend to initially empty out to an approximate de Sitter vacuum.

    “In the presence of a small positive vacuum energy (such as seems to exist in our universe [16, 17, 18]), systems will tend to initially empty out to an approximate de Sitter vacuum.”

    From Spontaneous inflation and the origin of the arrow of time (2004) · cites this paper as [16]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

2 of the 112 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. [10]10. B. 1989, Ph.D. thesis, Basel Leibundgut, Univ.
  2. [13]13. P. 1995, MasterÏs thesis, Univ.
  3. [15]15. M., & Schechter, P. L. 1989, in Proc. First ESO/ST-ECF Work- Mateo, shop on Data Analysis, ed. P. J. F. Murtaugh, & R. H. GrosbÔl, Warmels (Garching : ESO), 127
  4. [36]36. A. G. 1996, Ph.D. thesis, Harvard Riess, Univ.
  5. [39]39. A. G., et al. 1998c, in Riess, preparation A. G., Press, W. H., & Kirshner, R. P. 1995, ApJ, 438, Riess, L17 1996a, ApJ, 473, ÈÈÈ. 88
  6. [43]43. G. B., & Press, W. H. 1992, ApJ, 398, Rybicki, 169
  7. [51]51. B. P., et al. 1998, ApJ, in Schmidt, press
  8. [61]61. R. 1986, Ph.D. thesis, Leiden Walterbos, Univ.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Riess, A. G., Filippenko, A. V., Challis, P., Clocchiatti, A., Diercks, A., Garnavich, P. M., Gilliland, R. L., Hogan, C. J., Jha, S., Kirshner, R. P., Leibundgut, B., Phillips, M. M., Reiss, D., Schmidt, B. P., Schommer, R. A., Smith, R. C., Spyromilio, J., Stubbs, C., Suntzeff, N. B., & Tonry, J.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
  • Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US)
  • Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (CL)
  • University of Washington (US)
  • Space Telescope Science Institute (US)
  • European Southern Observatory (DE)
  • Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (US)
  • Mount Stromlo Observatory (AU)
  • University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US)
ORCID
Venue
The Astronomical Journal
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Published
1998-09
Volume
116
Issue
3
Pages
1009-1038
ISSN
0004-6256 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1086/300499
OpenAlex
W2073832139
Cited by
19,704
References
112
Citations by year
2026: 853 · 2025: 1184 · 2024: 1169 · 2023: 1055 · 2022: 906 · 2021: 920 · 2020: 924 · 2019: 928 · 2018: 799 · 2017: 807 · 2016: 906 · 2015: 816 · 2014: 794 · 2013: 925 · 2012: 843
FWCI
178.95
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Astronomical Journal (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • CERN Document Server (European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion)
  • ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Cosmology and Gravitation Theories
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
Keywords
Type Ia supernovae, cosmic acceleration, cosmological constant, deceleration parameter, Hubble constant, mass density, luminosity distance, light curve fitting, high-redshift supernovae, flat universe, vacuum energy density, cosmological constraints, systematic uncertainties

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review