Bayesian Evidence for a Cosmological Constant using new High-Redshift Supernovae Data

Abstract

We carry out a Bayesian model selection analysis of different dark energy parametrizations using the recent luminosity distance data of high redshift supernovae from Riess et al. 2007 and from the new ESSENCE Supernova Survey. Including complementary cosmological datasets, we found substantial evidence ($Δ\ln (E) \sim 1$) against a time-varying dark energy equation of state parameter, and against phantom dark energy models. We find a small preference for a standard cosmological constant over accelerating non-phantom models where w is constant, but allowed to vary in the range -1 to -0.33.

8 Pages, 8 Figures, Discussion on VEGAS extended, References added, typos corrected