Prospects and challenges in the electromagnetic follow-up of LIGO-Virgo gravitational wave transients

Salvatore Vitale

doi:10.1117/12.2057142

28 July 2014 Prospects and challenges in the electromagnetic follow-up of LIGO-Virgo gravitational wave transients

Salvatore Vitale

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9149, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems V; 914907 (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2057142
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

The kilometer-scale ground based gravitational wave (GW) detectors, LIGO and Virgo, are being upgraded to their advanced configurations. We expect the two LIGO observatories to undertake a 3 month science run in 2015 with a limited sensitivity. Virgo should come online in 2016, and join LIGO for a 6 month science run. Through a sequence of science runs and commissioning periods, the final sensitivity should be reached by ~2019. LIGO and Virgo are expected to deliver the first direct detection of gravitational wave transients in the next few years. Most of the known sources of GWs targeted by LIGO and Virgo will likely be luminous in the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum as well. Compact binary coalescences are thought to be progenitors of short gamma-ray bursts, while long gamma-ray bursts are likely to be associated with core collapse supernova. A joint detection of gravitational and EM radiation may help confirm these associations, and expand our understanding of those astrophysical systems. Due to the transient nature, a search for the EM counterparts to GW events should be done with the shortest latency. In this paper we describe the EM follow-up program of Advanced LIGO and Virgo, from the search for GWs to the production of sky maps. Furthermore, we quantify the expected sky localization errors in the first two years of operation of the advanced detectors network.

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Salvatore Vitale "Prospects and challenges in the electromagnetic follow-up of LIGO-Virgo gravitational wave transients", Proc. SPIE 9149, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems V, 914907 (28 July 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2057142

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KEYWORDS

LIGO

Sensors

Signal to noise ratio

Electromagnetism

Gamma radiation

Observatories

Interferometers

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