Population Synthesis of Type Ia SNe: Constraining Free Parameters from Observations

Computing the rate of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from first principles is difficult because there are large uncertainties regarding several key binary processes such as common envelope evolution, tidal interactions, and the efficiency of mass transfer. Fortunately, a range of observational parameters of binaries in intermediate stages of evolution can help us model these processes in a way that is likely to mirror the true binary evolution. We discuss how this observationally-motivated approach may have the effect of increasing the predicted rate of single degenerate progenitors of SNe Ia, while simultaneously decreasing the number of double degenerate progenitors.