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arXiv · 2006.11306

Kilonova Luminosity Function Constraints based on Zwicky Transient Facility Searches for 13 Neutron Star Mergers

Mansi M. Kasliwal·Shreya Anand·Tomas Ahumada·Robert Stein·Ana Sagues Carracedo·Igor Andreoni·Michael W. Coughlin·Leo P. Singer·Erik C. Kool·Kishalay De·Harsh Kumar·Mouza AlMualla·Yuhan Yao·Mattia Bulla·Dougal Dobie·Simeon Reusch·Daniel A. Perley·S. Bradley Cenko·Varun Bhalerao·David L. Kaplan·Jesper Sollerman·Ariel Goobar·Christopher M. Copperwheat·Eric C. Bellm·G. C. Anupama·Alessandra Corsi·Samaya Nissanke·Ivan Agudo·Ashot Bagdasaryan·Sudhanshu Barway·Justin Belicki·Joshua S. Bloom·Bryce Bolin·David A. H. Buckley·Kevin B. Burdge·Rick Burruss·Maria D. Caballero-Garcıa·Chris Cannella·Alberto J. Castro-Tirado·David O. Cook·Jeff Cooke·Virginia Cunningham·Aishwarya Dahiwale·Kunal Deshmukh·Simone Dichiara·Dmitry A. Duev·Anirban Dutta·Michael Feeney·Anna Franckowiak·Sara Frederick·Christoffer Fremling·Avishay Gal-Yam·Pradip Gatkine·Shaon Ghosh·Daniel A. Goldstein·V. Zach Golkhou·Matthew J. Graham·Melissa L. Graham·Matthew J. Hankins·George Helou·Youdong Hu·Wing-Huen Ip·Amruta Jaodand·Viraj Karambelkar·Albert K. H. Kong·Marek Kowalski·Maitreya Khandagale·S. R. Kulkarni·Brajesh Kumar·Russ R. Laher·K. L. Li·Ashish Mahabal·Frank J. Masci·Adam A. Miller·Moses Mogotsi·Siddharth Mohite·Kunal Mooley·Przemek Mroz·Jeffrey A. Newman·Chow-Choong Ngeow·Samantha R. Oates·Atharva Sunil Patil·Shashi B. Pandey·M. Pavana·Elena Pian·Reed Riddle·Ruben Sanchez-Ramırez·Yashvi Sharma·Avinash Singh·Roger Smith·Maayane T. Soumagnac·Kirsty Taggart·Hanjie Tan·Anastasios Tzanidakis·Eleonora Troja·Azamat F. Valeev·Richard Walters·Gaurav Waratkar·Sara Webb·Po-Chieh Yu
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Abstract

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. 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 of 4480 deg^2, median distance of 267 Mpc and false alarm rates ranging from 1.5 to 1e-25 per yr. The ZTF coverage had a median enclosed probability of 39%, median depth of 20.8mag, and median response time of 1.5 hr. The O3 follow-up by the GROWTH team comprised 340 UVOIR photometric points, 64 OIR spectra, and 3 radio. We find no promising kilonova (radioactivity-powered counterpart) and we convert the upper limits to constrain the underlying kilonova luminosity function. Assuming that all kilonovae are at least as luminous as GW170817 at discovery (-16.1mag), we calculate our joint probability of detecting zero kilonovae is only 4.2%. If we assume that all kilonovae are brighter than -16.6mag (extrapolated peak magnitude of GW170817) and fade at 1 mag/day (similar to GW170817), the joint probability of zero detections is 7%. If we separate the NSBH and BNS populations, the joint probability of zero detections, assuming all kilonovae are brighter than -16.6mag, is 9.7% for NSBH and 7.9% for BNS mergers. Moreover, <57% (<89%) of putative kilonovae could be brighter than -16.6mag assuming flat (fading) evolution, at 90% confidence. If we further account for the online terrestrial probability for each GW trigger, we find that <68% of putative kilonovae could be brighter than -16.6mag. Comparing to model grids, we find that some kilonovae must have Mej < 0.03 Msun or Xlan>1e-4 or phi>30deg to be consistent with our limits. (Abridged)

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Mansi M. Kasliwal, Shreya Anand, Tomas Ahumada, Robert Stein, Ana Sagues Carracedo, Igor Andreoni, Michael W. Coughlin, Leo P. Singer, Erik C. Kool, Kishalay De, Harsh Kumar, Mouza AlMualla, Yuhan Yao, Mattia Bulla, Dougal Dobie, Simeon Reusch, Daniel A. Perley, S. Bradley Cenko, Varun Bhalerao, David L. Kaplan, Jesper Sollerman, Ariel Goobar, Christopher M. Copperwheat, Eric C. Bellm, G. C. Anupama, Alessandra Corsi, Samaya Nissanke, Ivan Agudo, Ashot Bagdasaryan, Sudhanshu Barway, Justin Belicki, Joshua S. Bloom, Bryce Bolin, David A. H. Buckley, Kevin B. Burdge, Rick Burruss, Maria D. Caballero-Garcıa, Chris Cannella, Alberto J. Castro-Tirado, David O. Cook, Jeff Cooke, Virginia Cunningham, Aishwarya Dahiwale, Kunal Deshmukh, Simone Dichiara, Dmitry A. Duev, Anirban Dutta, Michael Feeney, Anna Franckowiak, Sara Frederick, Christoffer Fremling, Avishay Gal-Yam, Pradip Gatkine, Shaon Ghosh, Daniel A. Goldstein, V. Zach Golkhou, Matthew J. Graham, Melissa L. Graham, Matthew J. Hankins, George Helou, Youdong Hu, Wing-Huen Ip, Amruta Jaodand, Viraj Karambelkar, Albert K. H. Kong, Marek Kowalski, Maitreya Khandagale, S. R. Kulkarni, Brajesh Kumar, Russ R. Laher, K. L. Li, Ashish Mahabal, Frank J. Masci, Adam A. Miller, Moses Mogotsi, Siddharth Mohite, Kunal Mooley, Przemek Mroz, Jeffrey A. Newman, Chow-Choong Ngeow, Samantha R. Oates, Atharva Sunil Patil, Shashi B. Pandey, M. Pavana, Elena Pian, Reed Riddle, Ruben Sanchez-Ramırez, Yashvi Sharma, Avinash Singh, Roger Smith, Maayane T. Soumagnac, Kirsty Taggart, Hanjie Tan, Anastasios Tzanidakis, Eleonora Troja, Azamat F. Valeev, Richard Walters, Gaurav Waratkar, Sara Webb, Po-Chieh Yu. 2020-06-19. Kilonova Luminosity Function Constraints based on Zwicky Transient Facility Searches for 13 Neutron Star Mergers. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357%2Fabc335

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