| Name: | Smaranika Banerjee |
| Affiliation: | Tohoku University, Japan |
| Conference ID : | ASI2022_428 |
| Title : | High Energy counterparts to Gravitational Wave sources |
| Authors : | Smaranika Banerjee (Tohoku University, Japan), Soumyadeep Bhattacharjee (IISc), Varun Bhalerao (IIT Bombay), Paz Beniamini (Open University of Israel), Sukanta Bose (IUCAA), Kenta Hotokezaka (University of Tokyo), Archana Pai (IIT Bombay), M Saleem (University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract Type: | Rejected |
| Abstract Category : | Extragalactic Astronomy |
| Abstract : | The high energy (HE) emission accompanying the binary neutron star merger GW170817 was the first confirmed case of a short Gamma-Ray Burst viewed at a significant off-axis angle. Detailed observations and analyses of this source provided unprecedented insights into the creation and physical properties of relativistic jets. While multiple neutron star mergers were detected by the gravitational wave (GW) detector network after this event, no other HE counterparts have been found, raising the question - were these non-detections a result of intrinsic source properties or a limitation of our current high-energy space telescopes? What will the scenario be when improved GW detector networks detect more distant sources, with fainter HE counterparts? We address these questions with the help of simulations. We simulate a large number of binary neutron star mergers and calculate the GW detectability of each of them - including the effects of the detector duty cycle. For each source, we consider a variety of HE emission models, while factoring in the source distance and inclination. Finally, we calculate the fraction of events that could be detected by various space telescopes based on their sensitivity, field of view, and duty cycle. We find that various models consistent with GW170817 observations can give significantly different numbers of detectable counterparts. Regardless of the model used, the number of detectable HE counterparts remains low for existing missions like the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and Fermi. We find that future missions like Daksha will detect a significantly higher number of events, providing the much-needed observational data for theoretical models. |