IDENTIFYING ELUSIVE ELECTROMAGNETIC COUNTERPARTS TO GRAVITATIONAL WAVE MERGERS: AN END-TO-END SIMULATION

By S. Nissanke, Mansi M. Kasliwal, A. Georgieva. 2012

172 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Combined gravitational wave (GW) and electromagnetic (EM) observations of compact binary mergers should enable detailed studies of astrophysical processes in the strong-field gravity regime. This decade, ground-based GW interferometers promise to routinely detect compact binary mergers. Unfortunately, networks of GW interferometers have poor angular resolution on the sky and their EM signatures are predicted to be faint. Therefore, a challenging goal will be to unambiguously pinpoint the EM counterparts of GW mergers. We perform the first comprehensive end-to-end simulation that focuses on: (1) GW sky localization, distance measures, and volume errors with two compact binary populations and four different GW networks; (2) subsequent EM detectability by a slew of multiwavelength telescopes; and (3) final identification of the merger counterpart amidst a sea of possible astrophysical false positives. First, we find that double neutron star binary mergers can be detected out to a maximum distance of 400 Mpc (or 750 Mpc) by three (or five) detector GW networks, respectively. Neutron-star–black-hole binary mergers can be detected a factor of 1.5 further out; their median to maximum sky localizations are 50–170 deg2 (or 6–65 deg2) for a three (or five) detector GW network. Second, by optimizing depth, cadence, and sky area, we quantify relative fractions of optical counterparts that are detectable by a suite of different aperture–size telescopes across the globe. Third, we present five case studies to illustrate the diversity of scenarios in secure identification of the EM counterpart. We discuss the case of a typical binary, neither beamed nor nearby, and the challenges associated with identifying an EM counterpart at both low and high Galactic latitudes. For the first time, we demonstrate how construction of low-latency GW volumes in conjunction with local universe galaxy catalogs can help solve the problem of false positives. We conclude with strategies that would best prepare us for successfully identifying the elusive EM counterpart of a GW merger.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/3256aae1b4f85c0e27ebf7fde79eb5ef23910e50

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In Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. B. Metzger
2. E. Berger
3. Bing Zhang
4. David Radice
5. D. Kasen
6. R. Fern'andez
7. Stephan Rosswog
8. Albino Perego

Citations in the corpus

• Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger (2017, background): “Despite these strong hints, proof that sGRBs were powered by neutron star mergers remained elusive, and interest intensified in following up gravitational-wave detections electromagnetically(Metzger & Berger 2012; Nissanke et al. 2013).”
• Delayed outflows from black hole accretion tori following neutron star binary coalescence (2013, background): “To maximize the scientific benefit of a GW detection, it is important to identify a coincident electromagnetic counterpart (e.g. Bloom et al. 2009, Metzger & Berger 2012, Nissanke et al. 2013, Bartos et al. 2012).”
• The long-term evolution of neutron star merger remnants – I. The impact of r-process nucleosynthesis (2013, background): “Since the first events are expected to be around or even below threshold, accompanying electromagnetic signatures, such as r-process powered macronovae, could substantially boost the confidence in such a marginal detection (Nissanke et al. 2013; Kasliwal & Nissanke 2013).”
• Dynamical Mass Ejection from Binary Neutron Star Mergers (2016, background): “This makes BNS and BHNS mergers ideal candidates for multi-messenger astronomy (Metzger & Berger 2012; Nissanke et al. 2013) and motivates the systematic study of their observational signatures.”
• THE FORMATION OF ECCENTRIC COMPACT BINARY INSPIRALS AND THE ROLE OF GRAVITATIONAL WAVE EMISSION IN BINARY–SINGLE STELLAR ENCOUNTERS (2013, background): “…2007b,a; Bloom et al. 2009; Lee et al. 2010; Rosswog et al. 2012; Faber & Rasio 2012; Metzger & Berger 2012; Lehner et al. 2012; Kelley et al. 2013; Nissanke et al. 2013; Palenzuela et al. 2013a,b; Berger et al. 2013; Tanvir et al. 2013; Bartos et al. 2013), in addition to possible insights into…”
• RADIATIVE TRANSFER SIMULATIONS OF NEUTRON STAR MERGER EJECTA (2013, background): “Thus, the use of wide-field telescopes and cameras is a natural choice (e.g., Kelley et al. 2013; Nissanke et al. 2013).”
• A DECADE OF SHORT-DURATION GAMMA-RAY BURST BROADBAND AFTERGLOWS: ENERGETICS, CIRCUMBURST DENSITIES, AND JET OPENING ANGLES (2015, background): “…basic properties also serve as critical inputs for the detectability of other electromagnetic counterparts to compact object mergers, and will directly affect follow-up strategies to gravitational wave signals detected with Advanced LIGO/VIRGO (e.g., Metzger & Berger 2012; Nissanke et al. 2013).”
• Impact of ejecta morphology and composition on the electromagnetic signatures of neutron star mergers (2017, background): “…electromagnetic counterparts would provide crucial information to localize the astrophysical environments of gravitational wave signals (Metzger & Berger 2012; Nissanke et al. 2013; Piran et al. 2013; Singer et al. 2014; Chu et al. 2015; Ghosh et al. 2015; Bartos et al. 2016; Abbott et al. 2016a).”
• Probing the theory of gravity with gravitational lensing of gravitational waves and galaxy surveys (2019, methodology): “Among these sources, BH-NSs and NS-NSs are expected to have an electromagnetic counterpart (Bhattacharya et al. 2019; Nissanke et al. 2013) and hence the redshift to these sources can be measured.”
• Optical and X-ray emission from stable millisecond magnetars formed from the merger of binary neutron stars (2013, unknown): “On one hand, our electromagnetic signature has the same important use of any other electomagnetic counterpart in assisting with localization and identification of the environment where the merger occurred (Metzger & Berger 2012; Nissanke et al. 2013; Kasliwal & Nissanke 2013).”
• THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FOLLOW-UP WITH ADVANCED LIGO AND VIRGO (2014, methodology): “We have elucidated a degeneracy caused by the relative orientations of the two LIGO detectors, such that position recon- 19 Nissanke et al. (2013) and Kasliwal & Nissanke (2014) present a parallel set of results for a threshold ρnet > 8.5, relevant for a coherent GW search described by Harry &…”
• Prospects for observing and localizing gravitational-wave transients with Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA (2013, background): “…calibration accuracies, and correlation of sky location with other binary parameters (Fairhurst 2009; Vitale and Zanolin 2011; Vitale et al. 2012; Nissanke et al. 2011; Veitch et al. 2012; Nissanke et al. 2013; Singer et al. 2014; Berry et al. 2015; Singer and Price 2016; Fairhurst 2017).”
• BRIGHT “MERGER-NOVA” FROM THE REMNANT OF A NEUTRON STAR BINARY MERGER: A SIGNATURE OF A NEWLY BORN, MASSIVE, MILLISECOND MAGNETAR (2013, background): “It is expected that, by the end of this decade, the second generation of ground-based GW detectors would extend the detection horizons of the mergers to a few hundred Mpcs or even 1 Gpc (Abadie et al. 2010; Nissanke et al. 2013).”