Gravity and Light: Combining Gravitational Wave and Electromagnetic Observations in the 2020s

As of today, we have directly detected exactly one source in both gravitational waves (GWs) and electromagnetic (EM) radiation, the binary neutron star merger GW170817, its associated gamma-ray burst GRB170817A, and the subsequent kilonova SSS17a/AT 2017gfo. Within ten years, we will detect hundreds...

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Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Foley, R J, Alexander, K D, Andreoni, I, Arcavi, I, Auchettl, K, Barnes, J, Baym, G, Bellm, E C, Beloborodov, A M, Blagorodnova, N, Blakeslee, J P, Brady, P R, Brown, J S, Butler, N, Cantiello, M, Chornock, R, Cook, D O, Cooke, J, Coppejans, D L, Corsi, A, Couch, S M, Coughlin, M W, Coulter, D A, Dietrich, T, Dimitriadis, G, Drout, M R, Elias, J H, Farr, B, Fernandez, R, Fong, W, Fragos, T, Frail, D A, Freedman, W L, Fryer, C L, Golkhou, V Z, Hiramatsu, D, Hjorth, J, Horesh, A, Hosseinzadeh, G, Hotokezaka, K, Jones, D O, Kalogera, V, Kasen, D, Kilpatrick, C D, Kirshner, R P, Krisciunas, K, Lattimer, J M, Lazzati, D, Levan, A J, MacFadyen, A I, Maeda, K, Mandel, I, Mandel, K S, Margalit, B, Margutti, R, McIver, J, Moriya, T, Murguia-Berthier, A, Narayan, G, Nicholl, M, Nomoto, K, O'Shaughnessy, R, O'Connor, E, Palmese, A, Y -C Pan, Pankow, C, Paterson, K, Perley, D A, Perna, R, Piro, A L, Quataert, E, Radice, D, Ramirez-Ruiz, E, Reddy, S, Rest, A, Riess, A G, Rodriguez, C L, Rojas-Bravo, C, Rossi, E M, Rosswog, S, Ruiz, M, Shoemaker, D H, Siebert, M R, Siegel, D M, Siellez, K, Smith, N, Soares-Santos, M, Suntzeff, N B, Surman, R, Tanvir, N R, Terreran, G, Valenti, S, Villar, V A, Wang, L, Webb, S A, Wheeler, J C, Williams, P K G, Woosley, S, Zaldarriaga, M, Zevin, M
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 11.03.2019
Subjects
Astrophysics
Binary stars
Cosmology
Gamma rays
Gravitation
Gravitational collapse
Gravitational waves
High energy astronomy
Neutron stars
Neutrons
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear matter
Relativity
Stellar evolution
Supernovae
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Summary:As of today, we have directly detected exactly one source in both gravitational waves (GWs) and electromagnetic (EM) radiation, the binary neutron star merger GW170817, its associated gamma-ray burst GRB170817A, and the subsequent kilonova SSS17a/AT 2017gfo. Within ten years, we will detect hundreds of events, including new classes of events such as neutron-star-black-hole mergers, core-collapse supernovae, and almost certainly something completely unexpected. As we build this sample, we will explore exotic astrophysical topics ranging from nucleosynthesis, stellar evolution, general relativity, high-energy astrophysics, nuclear matter, to cosmology. The discovery potential is extraordinary, and investments in this area will yield major scientific breakthroughs. Here we outline some of the most exciting scientific questions that can be answered by combining GW and EM observations.
ISSN:2331-8422