Detailed quantitative spectroscopy of Type Ia supernovae (SNe~Ia) provides
crucial information needed to minimize systematic effects in both ongoing SNe
Ia observational programs such as the Nearby Supernova Factory, ESSENCE, and
the SuperNova Legacy Survey (SNLS) and in proposed JDEM missions such as SNAP,
JEDI, and DESTINY.
Quantitative spectroscopy is mandatory to quantify and understand the
observational strategy of comparing ``like versus like''. It allows us to
explore evolutionary effects, from variations in progenitor metallicity to
variations in progenitor age, to variations in dust with cosmological epoch. It
also allows us to interpret and quantify the effects of asphericity, as well as
different amounts of mixing in the thermonuclear explosion.Comment: White paper submitted to the Dark Energy Task Force, 13 pages, 5
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