Optimal Supernova Search Strategies

Recent use of Type Ia supernovae to measure acceleration of the universe has motivated questions regarding their optimal use to constrain cosmological parameters ΩM , ΩΛ and wQ. In this work we address the question: what is the optimal distribution of supernovae in redshift in order to best constrain the cosmological parameters? The solution to this problem is not only of theoretical interest, but can be useful in planning supernova searches. Using the Fisher matrix formalism we show that the error ellipsoid corresponding to N parameters (for N = 1, 2, 3) has the smallest volume if the supernovae are located at N discrete redshifts, with equal number of supernovae at each redshift and with one redshift always being the maximum one probed. Including marginalization over the “nuisance parameter” M changes this result only trivially.