Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Kilonova Luminosity Function Constraints Based on Zwicky Transient Facility Searches for 13 Neutron Star Merger Triggers during O3
AU - Kasliwal, Mansi M.
AU - Anand, Shreya
AU - Ahumada, Tomás
AU - Stein, Robert
AU - Carracedo, Ana Sagués
AU - Andreoni, Igor
AU - Coughlin, Michael W.
AU - Singer, Leo P.
AU - Kool, Erik C.
AU - De, Kishalay
AU - Kumar, Harsh
AU - AlMualla, Mouza
AU - Yao, Yuhan
AU - Bulla, Mattia
AU - Dobie, Dougal
AU - Reusch, Simeon
AU - Perley, Daniel A.
AU - Cenko, S. Bradley
AU - Bhalerao, Varun
AU - Kaplan, David L.
AU - Sollerman, Jesper
AU - Goobar, Ariel
AU - Copperwheat, Christopher M.
AU - Bellm, Eric C.
AU - Anupama, G. C.
AU - Corsi, Alessandra
AU - Nissanke, Samaya
AU - Agudo, Iván
AU - Bagdasaryan, Ashot
AU - Barway, Sudhanshu
AU - Belicki, Justin
AU - Bloom, Joshua S.
AU - Bolin, Bryce
AU - Buckley, David A. H.
AU - Burdge, Kevin B.
AU - Burruss, Rick
AU - Caballero-García, Maria D.
AU - Cannella, Chris
AU - Castro-Tirado, Alberto J.
AU - Cook, David O.
AU - Cooke, Jeff
AU - Cunningham, Virginia
AU - Dahiwale, Aishwarya
AU - Deshmukh, Kunal
AU - Dichiara, Simone
AU - Duev, Dmitry A.
AU - Dutta, Anirban
AU - Feeney, Michael
AU - Franckowiak, Anna
AU - Frederick, Sara
AU - Fremling, Christoffer
AU - Gal-Yam, Avishay
AU - Gatkine, Pradip
AU - Ghosh, Shaon
AU - Goldstein, Daniel A.
AU - Golkhou, V. Zach
AU - Graham, Matthew J.
AU - Graham, Melissa L.
AU - Hankins, Matthew J.
AU - Helou, George
AU - Hu, Youdong
AU - Ip, Wing-Huen
AU - Jaodand, Amruta
AU - Karambelkar, Viraj
AU - Kong, Albert K. H.
AU - Kowalski, Marek
AU - Khandagale, Maitreya
AU - Kulkarni, S. R.
AU - Kumar, Brajesh
AU - Laher, Russ R.
AU - Li, K. L.
AU - Mahabal, Ashish
AU - Masci, Frank J.
AU - Miller, Adam A.
AU - Mogotsi, Moses
AU - Mohite, Siddharth
AU - Mooley, Kunal
AU - Mroz, Przemek
AU - Newman, Jeffrey A.
AU - Ngeow, Chow-Choong
AU - Oates, Samantha R.
AU - Patil, Atharva Sunil
AU - Pandey, Shashi B.
AU - Pavana, M.
AU - Pian, Elena
AU - Riddle, Reed
AU - Sánchez-Ramírez, Rubén
AU - Sharma, Yashvi
AU - Singh, Avinash
AU - Smith, Roger
AU - Soumagnac, Maayane T.
AU - Taggart, Kirsty
AU - Tan, Hanjie
AU - Tzanidakis, Anastasios
AU - Troja, Eleonora
AU - Valeev, Azamat F.
AU - Walters, Richard
AU - Waratkar, Gaurav
AU - Webb, Sara
AU - Yu, Po-Chieh
AU - Zhang, Bin-Bin
AU - Zhou, Rongpu
AU - Zolkower, Jeffry
PY - 2020/12/22
Y1 - 2020/12/22
N2 - We present a systematic search for optical counterparts to 13 gravitational wave (GW) triggers involving at least one neutron star during LIGO/Virgo's third observing run (O3). We searched binary neutron star (BNS) and neutron star black hole (NSBH) merger localizations with the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and undertook follow-up with the Global Relay of Observatories Watching Transients Happen (GROWTH) collaboration. The GW triggers had a median localization area of 4480 deg2, a median distance of 267 Mpc, and false-alarm rates ranging from 1.5 to 10-25 yr-1. The ZTF coverage in the g and r bands had a median enclosed probability of 39%, median depth of 20.8 mag, and median time lag between merger and the start of observations of 1.5 hr. The O3 follow-up by the GROWTH team comprised 340 UltraViolet/Optical/InfraRed (UVOIR) photometric points, 64 OIR spectra, and three radio images using 17 different telescopes. We find no promising kilonovae (radioactivity-powered counterparts), and we show how to convert the upper limits to constrain the underlying kilonova luminosity function. Initially, we assume that all GW triggers are bona fide astrophysical events regardless of false-alarm rate and that kilonovae accompanying BNS and NSBH mergers are drawn from a common population; later, we relax these assumptions. Assuming that all kilonovae are at least as luminous as the discovery magnitude of GW170817 (-16.1 mag), we calculate that our joint probability of detecting zero kilonovae is only 4.2%. If we assume that all kilonovae are brighter than -16.6 mag (the extrapolated peak magnitude of GW170817) and fade at a rate of 1 mag day-1 (similar to GW170817), the joint probability of zero detections is 7%. If we separate the NSBH and BNS populations based on the online classifications, the joint probability of zero detections, assuming all kilonovae are brighter than -16.6 mag, is 9.7% for NSBH and 7.9% for BNS mergers. Moreover, no more than <57% (<89%) of putative kilonovae could be brighter than -16.6 mag assuming flat evolution (fading by 1 mag day-1) at the 90% confidence level. If we further take into account the online terrestrial probability for each GW trigger, we find that no more than <68% of putative kilonovae could be brighter than -16.6 mag. Comparing to model grids, we find that some kilonovae must have Mej < 0.03 M⊙, Xlan > 10-4, or φ > 30° to be consistent with our limits. We look forward to searches in the fourth GW observing run; even 17 neutron star mergers with only 50% coverage to a depth of -16 mag would constrain the maximum fraction of bright kilonovae to <25%....
AB - We present a systematic search for optical counterparts to 13 gravitational wave (GW) triggers involving at least one neutron star during LIGO/Virgo's third observing run (O3). We searched binary neutron star (BNS) and neutron star black hole (NSBH) merger localizations with the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and undertook follow-up with the Global Relay of Observatories Watching Transients Happen (GROWTH) collaboration. The GW triggers had a median localization area of 4480 deg2, a median distance of 267 Mpc, and false-alarm rates ranging from 1.5 to 10-25 yr-1. The ZTF coverage in the g and r bands had a median enclosed probability of 39%, median depth of 20.8 mag, and median time lag between merger and the start of observations of 1.5 hr. The O3 follow-up by the GROWTH team comprised 340 UltraViolet/Optical/InfraRed (UVOIR) photometric points, 64 OIR spectra, and three radio images using 17 different telescopes. We find no promising kilonovae (radioactivity-powered counterparts), and we show how to convert the upper limits to constrain the underlying kilonova luminosity function. Initially, we assume that all GW triggers are bona fide astrophysical events regardless of false-alarm rate and that kilonovae accompanying BNS and NSBH mergers are drawn from a common population; later, we relax these assumptions. Assuming that all kilonovae are at least as luminous as the discovery magnitude of GW170817 (-16.1 mag), we calculate that our joint probability of detecting zero kilonovae is only 4.2%. If we assume that all kilonovae are brighter than -16.6 mag (the extrapolated peak magnitude of GW170817) and fade at a rate of 1 mag day-1 (similar to GW170817), the joint probability of zero detections is 7%. If we separate the NSBH and BNS populations based on the online classifications, the joint probability of zero detections, assuming all kilonovae are brighter than -16.6 mag, is 9.7% for NSBH and 7.9% for BNS mergers. Moreover, no more than <57% (<89%) of putative kilonovae could be brighter than -16.6 mag assuming flat evolution (fading by 1 mag day-1) at the 90% confidence level. If we further take into account the online terrestrial probability for each GW trigger, we find that no more than <68% of putative kilonovae could be brighter than -16.6 mag. Comparing to model grids, we find that some kilonovae must have Mej < 0.03 M⊙, Xlan > 10-4, or φ > 30° to be consistent with our limits. We look forward to searches in the fourth GW observing run; even 17 neutron star mergers with only 50% coverage to a depth of -16 mag would constrain the maximum fraction of bright kilonovae to <25%....
U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/abc335
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/abc335
M3 - Journal article
VL - 905
JO - The Astrophysical Journal
JF - The Astrophysical Journal
SN - 0004-637X
IS - 2
M1 - 145
ER -