Designing an Optimal Kilonova Search Using DECam for Gravitational-wave Events

C. R. Bom; J. Annis; A. Garcia; A. Palmese; N. Sherman; M. Soares-Santos; L. Santana-Silva; R. Morgan; K. Bechtol; T. Davis; H. T. Diehl; S. S. Allam; T. G. Bachmann; B. M.O. Fraga; J. García-Bellido; M. S.S. Gill; K. Herner; C. D. Kilpatrick; M. Makler; F. Olivares E.; M. E.S. Pereira; J. Pineda; A. Santos; D. L. Tucker; M. P. Wiesner; M. Aguena; O. Alves; D. Bacon; P. H. Bernardinelli; E. Bertin; S. Bocquet; D. Brooks; M. Carrasco Kind; J. Carretero; C. Conselice; M. Costanzi; L. N. da Costa; J. De Vicente; S. Desai; P. Doel; S. Everett; I. Ferrero; J. Frieman; M. Gatti; D. W. Gerdes; D. Gruen; R. A. Gruendl; G. Gutierrez; S. R. Hinton; D. L. Hollowood; K. Honscheid; D. J. James; K. Kuehn; N. Kuropatkin; P. Melchior; J. Mena-Fernández; F. Menanteau; A. Pieres; A. A. Plazas Malagón; M. Raveri; M. Rodriguez-Monroy; E. Sanchez; B. Santiago; I. Sevilla-Noarbe; M. Smith; E. Suchyta; M. E.C. Swanson; G. Tarle; C. To; N. Weaverdyck

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad0462

Designing an Optimal Kilonova Search Using DECam for Gravitational-wave Events

C. R. Bom, J. Annis, A. Garcia, A. Palmese, N. Sherman, M. Soares-Santos, L. Santana-Silva, R. Morgan, K. Bechtol, T. Davis, H. T. Diehl, S. S. Allam, T. G. Bachmann, B. M.O. Fraga, J. García-Bellido, M. S.S. Gill, K. Herner, C. D. Kilpatrick, M. Makler, F. Olivares E.M. E.S. Pereira, J. Pineda, A. Santos, D. L. Tucker, M. P. Wiesner, M. Aguena, O. Alves, D. Bacon, P. H. Bernardinelli, E. Bertin, S. Bocquet, D. Brooks, M. Carrasco Kind, J. Carretero, C. Conselice, M. Costanzi, L. N. da Costa, J. De Vicente, S. Desai, P. Doel, S. Everett, I. Ferrero, J. Frieman, M. Gatti, D. W. Gerdes, D. Gruen, R. A. Gruendl, G. Gutierrez, S. R. Hinton, D. L. Hollowood, K. Honscheid, D. J. James, K. Kuehn, N. Kuropatkin, P. Melchior, J. Mena-Fernández, F. Menanteau, A. Pieres, A. A. Plazas Malagón, M. Raveri, M. Rodriguez-Monroy, E. Sanchez, B. Santiago, I. Sevilla-Noarbe, M. Smith, E. Suchyta, M. E.C. Swanson, G. Tarle, C. To, N. Weaverdyck

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Abstract

We address the problem of optimally identifying all kilonovae detected via gravitational-wave emission in the upcoming LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA observing run, O4, which is expected to be sensitive to a factor of ∼7 more binary neutron star (BNS) alerts than previously. Electromagnetic follow-up of all but the brightest of these new events will require >1 m telescopes, for which limited time is available. We present an optimized observing strategy for the DECam during O4. We base our study on simulations of gravitational-wave events expected for O4 and wide-prior kilonova simulations. We derive the detectabilities of events for realistic observing conditions. We optimize our strategy for confirming a kilonova while minimizing telescope time. For a wide range of kilonova parameters, corresponding to a fainter kilonova compared to GW170817/AT 2017gfo, we find that, with this optimal strategy, the discovery probability for electromagnetic counterparts with the DECam is ∼80% at the nominal BNS gravitational-wave detection limit for O4 (190 Mpc), which corresponds to an ∼30% improvement compared to the strategy adopted during the previous observing run. For more distant events (∼330 Mpc), we reach an ∼60% probability of detection, a factor of ∼2 increase. For a brighter kilonova model dominated by the blue component that reproduces the observations of GW170817/AT 2017gfo, we find that we can reach ∼90% probability of detection out to 330 Mpc, representing an increase of ∼20%, while also reducing the total telescope time required to follow up events by ∼20%.

Original language	English
Article number	122
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	960
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad0462
State	Published - Jan 1 2024

Funding

Funding for the DES Projects has been provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Ministry of Science and Education of Spain, the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago, the Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics at the Ohio State University, the Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University, Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos, Funda\u00E7\u00E3o Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo \u00E0 Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient\u00EDfico e Tecnol\u00F3gico and the Minist\u00E9rio da Ci\u00EAncia, Tecnologia e Inova\u00E7\u00E3o, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and the Collaborating Institutions in the Dark Energy Survey. The DES data management system is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant Nos. AST-1138766 and AST-1536171. The DES participants from Spanish institutions are partially supported by MICINN under grants ESP2017-89838, PGC2018-094773, PGC2018-102021, SEV-2016-0588, SEV-2016-0597, and MDM-2015-0509, some of which include ERDF funds from the European Union. IFAE is partially funded by the CERCA program of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union\u2019s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013), including ERC grant agreements 240672, 291329, and 306478. We acknowledge support from the Brazilian Instituto Nacional de Ci\u00EAncia e Tecnologia (INCT) e-Universe (CNPq grant 465376/2014-2). This manuscript has been authored by the Fermi Research Alliance, LLC, under contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359 with the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics. R.M. thanks the LSSTC Data Science Fellowship Program, which is funded by LSSTC; NSF Cybertraining grant No. 1829740; the Brinson Foundation; and the Moore Foundation. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under grant No. 1744555. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. This paper has gone through internal review by the DES collaboration. C.R.B. acknowledges financial support from CNPq (316072/2021-4), FAPERJ (grants 201.456/2022 and 210.330/2022) and FINEP contract 01.22.0505.00 (ref. 1891/22). A.P. acknowledges that support for this work was provided by NASA through NASA Hubble Fellowship grant HST-HF2-51488.001-A awarded by the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., for NASA, under contract NAS5-26555. MESP is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; German Research Foundation) under Germany\u2019s Excellence Strategy\u2014EXC 2121 \u201CQuantum Universe\u201D\u2014390833306. F.O.E. acknowledges financial support from FONDECYT grant No. 1201223. L.S.-S. acknowledges financial support from FAPESP through grant No. 2020/03301-5.

Funders	Funder number
Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University
Brazilian Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia
High Energy Physics
Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Ohio State University
University of Chicago
Generalitat de Catalunya
Blanche Moore Foundation
Higher Education Funding Council for England
Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos
Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
European Commission
Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia para Excitotoxicidade e Neuroproteção
U.S. Department of Energy
Brinson Foundation
Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom
Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação
Office of Science
National Centre for Supercomputing Applications
European Research Council
European Regional Development Fund
Collaborating Institutions in the Dark Energy Survey
LSSTC
National Science Foundation	1138766, 1829740, AST-1536171, 1744555
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	HST-HF2-51488.001-A
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico	465376/2014-2
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft	390833306
Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico	1201223
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación	SEV-2016-0588, SEV-2016-0597, MDM-2015-0509, PGC2018-094773, PGC2018-102021, ESP2017-89838
Seventh Framework Programme	1138766, 240672, 306478, 1829740, 291329, 1744555
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo	2020/03301-5
Fermi Research Alliance, LLC	DE-AC02-07CH11359
Space Telescope Science Institute	NAS5-26555

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10.3847/1538-4357/ad0462

Cite this

Bom, C. R., Annis, J., Garcia, A., Palmese, A., Sherman, N., Soares-Santos, M., Santana-Silva, L., Morgan, R., Bechtol, K., Davis, T., Diehl, H. T., Allam, S. S., Bachmann, T. G., Fraga, B. M. O., García-Bellido, J., Gill, M. S. S., Herner, K., Kilpatrick, C. D., Makler, M., ... Weaverdyck, N. (2024). Designing an Optimal Kilonova Search Using DECam for Gravitational-wave Events. Astrophysical Journal, 960(2), Article 122. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad0462

@article{70c274a1f01e430c85f84ad19a203b31,

title = "Designing an Optimal Kilonova Search Using DECam for Gravitational-wave Events",

abstract = "We address the problem of optimally identifying all kilonovae detected via gravitational-wave emission in the upcoming LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA observing run, O4, which is expected to be sensitive to a factor of ∼7 more binary neutron star (BNS) alerts than previously. Electromagnetic follow-up of all but the brightest of these new events will require >1 m telescopes, for which limited time is available. We present an optimized observing strategy for the DECam during O4. We base our study on simulations of gravitational-wave events expected for O4 and wide-prior kilonova simulations. We derive the detectabilities of events for realistic observing conditions. We optimize our strategy for confirming a kilonova while minimizing telescope time. For a wide range of kilonova parameters, corresponding to a fainter kilonova compared to GW170817/AT 2017gfo, we find that, with this optimal strategy, the discovery probability for electromagnetic counterparts with the DECam is ∼80% at the nominal BNS gravitational-wave detection limit for O4 (190 Mpc), which corresponds to an ∼30% improvement compared to the strategy adopted during the previous observing run. For more distant events (∼330 Mpc), we reach an ∼60% probability of detection, a factor of ∼2 increase. For a brighter kilonova model dominated by the blue component that reproduces the observations of GW170817/AT 2017gfo, we find that we can reach ∼90% probability of detection out to 330 Mpc, representing an increase of ∼20%, while also reducing the total telescope time required to follow up events by ∼20%.",

author = "Bom, {C. R.} and J. Annis and A. Garcia and A. Palmese and N. Sherman and M. Soares-Santos and L. Santana-Silva and R. Morgan and K. Bechtol and T. Davis and Diehl, {H. T.} and Allam, {S. S.} and Bachmann, {T. G.} and Fraga, {B. M.O.} and J. Garc{\'i}a-Bellido and Gill, {M. S.S.} and K. Herner and Kilpatrick, {C. D.} and M. Makler and {Olivares E.}, F. and Pereira, {M. E.S.} and J. Pineda and A. Santos and Tucker, {D. L.} and Wiesner, {M. P.} and M. Aguena and O. Alves and D. Bacon and Bernardinelli, {P. H.} and E. Bertin and S. Bocquet and D. Brooks and {Carrasco Kind}, M. and J. Carretero and C. Conselice and M. Costanzi and {da Costa}, {L. N.} and {De Vicente}, J. and S. Desai and P. Doel and S. Everett and I. Ferrero and J. Frieman and M. Gatti and Gerdes, {D. W.} and D. Gruen and Gruendl, {R. A.} and G. Gutierrez and Hinton, {S. R.} and Hollowood, {D. L.} and K. Honscheid and James, {D. J.} and K. Kuehn and N. Kuropatkin and P. Melchior and J. Mena-Fern{\'a}ndez and F. Menanteau and A. Pieres and {Plazas Malag{\'o}n}, {A. A.} and M. Raveri and M. Rodriguez-Monroy and E. Sanchez and B. Santiago and I. Sevilla-Noarbe and M. Smith and E. Suchyta and Swanson, {M. E.C.} and G. Tarle and C. To and N. Weaverdyck",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.",

year = "2024",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.3847/1538-4357/ad0462",

language = "English",

volume = "960",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal",

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Bom, CR, Annis, J, Garcia, A, Palmese, A, Sherman, N, Soares-Santos, M, Santana-Silva, L, Morgan, R, Bechtol, K, Davis, T, Diehl, HT, Allam, SS, Bachmann, TG, Fraga, BMO, García-Bellido, J, Gill, MSS, Herner, K, Kilpatrick, CD, Makler, M, Olivares E., F, Pereira, MES, Pineda, J, Santos, A, Tucker, DL, Wiesner, MP, Aguena, M, Alves, O, Bacon, D, Bernardinelli, PH, Bertin, E, Bocquet, S, Brooks, D, Carrasco Kind, M, Carretero, J, Conselice, C, Costanzi, M, da Costa, LN, De Vicente, J, Desai, S, Doel, P, Everett, S, Ferrero, I, Frieman, J, Gatti, M, Gerdes, DW, Gruen, D, Gruendl, RA, Gutierrez, G, Hinton, SR, Hollowood, DL, Honscheid, K, James, DJ, Kuehn, K, Kuropatkin, N, Melchior, P, Mena-Fernández, J, Menanteau, F, Pieres, A, Plazas Malagón, AA, Raveri, M, Rodriguez-Monroy, M, Sanchez, E, Santiago, B, Sevilla-Noarbe, I, Smith, M, Suchyta, E, Swanson, MEC, Tarle, G, To, C & Weaverdyck, N 2024, 'Designing an Optimal Kilonova Search Using DECam for Gravitational-wave Events', Astrophysical Journal, vol. 960, no. 2, 122. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad0462

TY - JOUR

T1 - Designing an Optimal Kilonova Search Using DECam for Gravitational-wave Events

AU - Bom, C. R.

AU - Annis, J.

AU - Garcia, A.

AU - Palmese, A.

AU - Sherman, N.

AU - Soares-Santos, M.

AU - Santana-Silva, L.

AU - Morgan, R.

AU - Bechtol, K.

AU - Davis, T.

AU - Diehl, H. T.

AU - Allam, S. S.

AU - Bachmann, T. G.

AU - Fraga, B. M.O.

AU - García-Bellido, J.

AU - Gill, M. S.S.

AU - Herner, K.

AU - Kilpatrick, C. D.

AU - Makler, M.

AU - Olivares E., F.

AU - Pereira, M. E.S.

AU - Pineda, J.

AU - Santos, A.

AU - Tucker, D. L.

AU - Wiesner, M. P.

AU - Aguena, M.

AU - Alves, O.

AU - Bacon, D.

AU - Bernardinelli, P. H.

AU - Bertin, E.

AU - Bocquet, S.

AU - Brooks, D.

AU - Carrasco Kind, M.

AU - Carretero, J.

AU - Conselice, C.

AU - Costanzi, M.

AU - da Costa, L. N.

AU - De Vicente, J.

AU - Desai, S.

AU - Doel, P.

AU - Everett, S.

AU - Ferrero, I.

AU - Frieman, J.

AU - Gatti, M.

AU - Gerdes, D. W.

AU - Gruen, D.

AU - Gruendl, R. A.

AU - Gutierrez, G.

AU - Hinton, S. R.

AU - Hollowood, D. L.

AU - Honscheid, K.

AU - James, D. J.

AU - Kuehn, K.

AU - Kuropatkin, N.

AU - Melchior, P.

AU - Mena-Fernández, J.

AU - Menanteau, F.

AU - Pieres, A.

AU - Plazas Malagón, A. A.

AU - Raveri, M.

AU - Rodriguez-Monroy, M.

AU - Sanchez, E.

AU - Santiago, B.

AU - Sevilla-Noarbe, I.

AU - Smith, M.

AU - Suchyta, E.

AU - Swanson, M. E.C.

AU - Tarle, G.

AU - To, C.

AU - Weaverdyck, N.

PY - 2024/1/1

Y1 - 2024/1/1

N2 - We address the problem of optimally identifying all kilonovae detected via gravitational-wave emission in the upcoming LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA observing run, O4, which is expected to be sensitive to a factor of ∼7 more binary neutron star (BNS) alerts than previously. Electromagnetic follow-up of all but the brightest of these new events will require >1 m telescopes, for which limited time is available. We present an optimized observing strategy for the DECam during O4. We base our study on simulations of gravitational-wave events expected for O4 and wide-prior kilonova simulations. We derive the detectabilities of events for realistic observing conditions. We optimize our strategy for confirming a kilonova while minimizing telescope time. For a wide range of kilonova parameters, corresponding to a fainter kilonova compared to GW170817/AT 2017gfo, we find that, with this optimal strategy, the discovery probability for electromagnetic counterparts with the DECam is ∼80% at the nominal BNS gravitational-wave detection limit for O4 (190 Mpc), which corresponds to an ∼30% improvement compared to the strategy adopted during the previous observing run. For more distant events (∼330 Mpc), we reach an ∼60% probability of detection, a factor of ∼2 increase. For a brighter kilonova model dominated by the blue component that reproduces the observations of GW170817/AT 2017gfo, we find that we can reach ∼90% probability of detection out to 330 Mpc, representing an increase of ∼20%, while also reducing the total telescope time required to follow up events by ∼20%.

AB - We address the problem of optimally identifying all kilonovae detected via gravitational-wave emission in the upcoming LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA observing run, O4, which is expected to be sensitive to a factor of ∼7 more binary neutron star (BNS) alerts than previously. Electromagnetic follow-up of all but the brightest of these new events will require >1 m telescopes, for which limited time is available. We present an optimized observing strategy for the DECam during O4. We base our study on simulations of gravitational-wave events expected for O4 and wide-prior kilonova simulations. We derive the detectabilities of events for realistic observing conditions. We optimize our strategy for confirming a kilonova while minimizing telescope time. For a wide range of kilonova parameters, corresponding to a fainter kilonova compared to GW170817/AT 2017gfo, we find that, with this optimal strategy, the discovery probability for electromagnetic counterparts with the DECam is ∼80% at the nominal BNS gravitational-wave detection limit for O4 (190 Mpc), which corresponds to an ∼30% improvement compared to the strategy adopted during the previous observing run. For more distant events (∼330 Mpc), we reach an ∼60% probability of detection, a factor of ∼2 increase. For a brighter kilonova model dominated by the blue component that reproduces the observations of GW170817/AT 2017gfo, we find that we can reach ∼90% probability of detection out to 330 Mpc, representing an increase of ∼20%, while also reducing the total telescope time required to follow up events by ∼20%.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85182356192&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/ad0462

DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/ad0462

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85182356192

SN - 0004-637X

VL - 960

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

IS - 2

M1 - 122

ER -

Designing an Optimal Kilonova Search Using DECam for Gravitational-wave Events

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