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The research investigates the impact of progenitor age on the luminosity of type Ia supernovae and its implications for cosmological models.

January 17, 2026Open Access

Strong Progenitor Age Bias in Supernova Cosmology and Alignment with DESI BAO

Key Points

The research investigates the impact of progenitor age on the luminosity of type Ia supernovae and its implications for cosmological models.
Conducted comprehensive age measurements of supernova host galaxies
Analyzed correlation between standardized SN luminosity and progenitor age
Corrected SN dataset for age bias with redshift
Compared results with DESI BAO measurements and ΛCDM model
Found a significant 5.5σ correlation between SN luminosity and progenitor age
Age bias correction resulted in closer alignment with DESI BAO results
Observed a strong 9σ discordance with the ΛCDM model under combined cosmological probes

Abstract

Supernova (SN) cosmology is based on the assumption that the luminosity of type Ia SNe, after the luminosity standardization process, remains invariant with progenitor age. However, our comprehensive age measurements of SN host galaxies reveal a significant (5.5σ) correlation between standardized SN luminosity and progenitor age, which is expected to introduce a serious systematic bias with redshift in SN cosmology. After correcting for this age bias with redshift, the SN dataset aligns more closely with the recent DESI BAO result, bringing the updated ’standard candle’ (SNe) into concordance with the ’standard ruler’ (BAO). When the three cosmological probes (SNe, BAO, CMB) are combined, we find a strong (∼9σ) discordance with the ΛCDM model, suggesting a time-varying dark energy equation of state in a currently non-accelerating universe.

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