Enabling the Discovery of Kilonovae Associated with Neutron Star Mergers with Electromagnetic Follow-up

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Abstract:: The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is designed to detect gravitational waves (GWs) caused by events such as merging neutron stars or black holes. The first detection of GWs and electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from a binary neutron star (BNS) merger occurred on August 17, 2017, with the discovery of GW170817. The merger released a large amount of energy in the form of GW and EMR: first a high-energy jet of energy produced as a byproduct of the collision and later a kilonova (KN). KNe are responsible for the synthesis of heavy elements beyond iron in the universe. The method proposed in this paper will enable the detection of early KN emission, which is crucial for studying the synthesis of heavy elements and understanding the physics of BNS mergers. I propose to build and test a data reduction pipeline for photometry and spectroscopy of KNe during O4 to aid in the real-time study of heavy element nucleosynthesis.

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Enabling the Discovery of Kilonovae Associated with Neutron Star Mergers with Electromagnetic Follow-up: Marianna Pezzella (Enabling the Discovery of Kilonovae Associated with N...pptx, 16.7 MB)
Final Presentation (Enabling the Discovery of Kilonovae Associated with Ne...pdf, 2.3 MB)
SURF First Interim Report (SURF_project__first_interim_report.pdf, 1.5 MB)
SURF Project Proposal (SURF_project__proposal.pdf, 1.4 MB)
SURF Second Interim Report (SURF_project__second_interim_report.pdf, 3.9 MB)

LIGO Document T2300261-v2