Measuring dark energy spatial inhomogeneity with supernova data

The gravitational lensing distortion of distant sources by the matter in the Universe has been extensively studied. In contrast, very little is known about the effects due to the large-scale distribution of dark energy. We discuss the use of Type Ia supernovae as probes of the spatial inhomogeneity and anisotropy of dark energy. We show that a shallow, almost all-sky survey can limit rms dark energy fluctuations at the horizon scale down to ∼ 10−3 of the energy density