The dependence of the Type Ia Supernova colour-luminosity relation on their host galaxy properties

Abstract

Using the Dark Energy Survey 5-year sample, we determine the properties of type Ia supernova (SN Ia) host galaxies across a wide multi-wavelength range - from the optical to far-infrared - including data from the $Herschel$ and $Spitzer$ space telescopes. We categorise the SNe Ia into three distinct groups according to the distribution of their host galaxies on the star-formation rate (SFR) - stellar mass ($M_{\star }$) plane. Each region comprises host galaxies at distinct stages in their evolutionary pathways: Region 1 - low-mass hosts; Region 2 - high-mass, star-forming hosts and Region 3 - high-mass, passive hosts. We find SNe Ia in host galaxies located in Region 1 have the steepest slope (quantified by $\beta$) between their colours and luminosities, with ${\beta }_{{\mathrm{R}}_1}=3.51\pm 0.16$. This differs at the $\sim 6\sigma$ significance level to SNe Ia in Region 3, which have the shallowest colour-luminosity slope with ${\beta }_{{\mathrm{R}}_3}=2.12\pm 0.16$. After correcting SNe Ia in each subsample by their respective $\beta$, events in Region 3 (high-mass, passive hosts) are $0.07-0.12$ mag ($>3\sigma$) brighter, post-standardisation. We conclude that future cosmological analyses should apply standardisation relations to SNe Ia based upon the region in which the SN host galaxy lies in the SFR-$M_{\star }$ plane. Alternatively, cosmological analyses should restrict the SN Ia sample to events whose host galaxies occupy a single region of this plane.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 25 pages, 13 figures (+ 3 figures in the Appendix)