Still accelerating: type Ia supernova cosmology is robust to host galaxy age evolution

Wiseman, Phil and Popovic, Brodie and Sullivan, Mark and Riess, Adam G and Scolnic, Dan and Chen, Rebecca C and Davis, Tamara M and Galbany, Lluís and Hook, Isobel M and Jha, Saurabh W and Kelsey, Lisa and Murakami, Yukei S and Rigault, Mickaël and Rose, Benjamin M and Schmidt, Brian and Smith, Mat and Vincenzi, Maria (2026) Still accelerating: type Ia supernova cosmology is robust to host galaxy age evolution. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 549 (3): stag797. ISSN 0035-8711

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Abstract

Type Ia supernovae are a cornerstone of modern cosmology, providing first evidence for cosmic acceleration and new tests of dark energy. Son et al. (S25) claim a strong redshift evolution in standardized supernova luminosities driven by supernova progenitor age, with dramatic cosmological implications: rapidly evolving dark energy, decelerating expansion, and a tension with CDM. We show that the underpinning evidence required for this conclusion – the supernova progenitor-age dependence, the redshift-dependent age difference, and their combined impact – is either negligible or relies on effects already corrected for in modern supernova analyses. First, the S25 analysis omits the standard host-galaxy stellar mass correction that captures known environmental dependencies that also correlate with stellar age. Applying this correction to the S25 sample, we find no dependence of standardized supernova brightness on host age. Independent data also show no significant difference at low-redshift in standardized brightness between star-forming galaxies and several Gyr older quiescent galaxies of the same stellar mass. Secondly, the S25 scenario predicts strong redshift evolution of the host-mass effect. Data from the Dark Energy Survey supernova survey measure evolution of , consistent with zero and altering the dark-energy equation-of-state measurement (w) by