A new measurement of the Hubble constant using Type Ia supernovae
  calibrated with surface brightness fluctuations
  We present a new calibration of the peak absolute magnitude of SNe Type Ia
based on the Surface Brightness Fluctuations (SBF) method, aimed at measuring
the value of the Hubble constant. We build a sample of calibrating anchors
consisting of 24 SNe hosted in galaxies having SBF distance measurements.
Applying a hierarchical Bayesian approach, we calibrate the SNe luminosity and
extend it into the Hubble flow by using a sample of 96 SNe Ia in the redshift
range $0.02 < z < 0.075$, extracted from the Combined Pantheon Sample. We
estimate a value of $H_0 = 70.50 \pm 2.37(stat) \pm 3.38(sys)$ $\text{km}\
\text{s}^{-1}\ \text{Mpc}^{-1}$ (i.e. $3.4\% stat, 4.8\% sys$), which is in
agreement with the value obtained using the tip of the red giant branch
calibration, and consistent within the errors with the value obtained from SNe
Type Ia calibrated with Cepheids and the one inferred from the analysis of the
cosmic microwave background. We find that the SNe Ia distance moduli calibrated
with SBF are on average larger by 0.07 mag than the ones calibrated with
Cepheids. Our results point to possible differences among SNe in different
types of galaxies, which could originate from different local environments
and/or SNe Ia progenitor properties. Sampling different host galaxy type, SBF
offers a complementary approach to Cepheids which is important in addressing
possible systematics. As the SBF method has the ability to reach larger
distances than Cepheids, the impending entry of LSST and JWST into operation
will increase the number of SNe Ia hosted in galaxies where SBF distances can
be measured, making SBF measurements attractive for improving the calibration
of SNe Ia, and in the estimation of $H_0$.
