Characterizing Gravitational Wave Electromagnetic Counterparts with the Schmidt Observatory System
Abstract
The emergence of gravitational wave (GW) multimessenger astronomy, marked by the detection of GW170817 and its associated kilonova, has opened a new window into the physics of compact binary mergers. Building a statistical population of kilonovae remains a challenge, limited by the low neutron star merger detection rates and the rapid evolution of these faint transients. The former problem will be overcome with upcoming LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA (LVK) sensitivity improvements leading to the fifth Observing Run (O5), while the latter will be addressed by the Schmidt Observatory System (including the Argus Array, the Deep Synoptic Array (DSA), and the Lazuli Space Observatory), in addition to ongoing and upcoming surveys (including the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time). Using simulations of expected kilonovae at LVK O5 sensitivity, we find that Argus and Rubin could detect binary neutron star kilonovae at a rate of 0.3-4.2 yr−1 and 0.6-7.0 yr−1 respectively. For neutron star-black hole mergers, Rubin could detect up to 1 kilonova per year. Lazuli will be able to characterize this kilonova population down to g ∼ 26 mag as early as 12 hours post merger. Additionally, ∼35% of these events are expected to exhibit a jet afterglow that will be detectable by DSA. We further characterize kilonova spectra to determine observable features of heavy element production. Finally, we develop an observing strategy that combines high cadence imaging and spectral monitoring, maximizing Lazuli's ability to constrain ejecta properties and composition of GW counterparts with reasonable observing time.
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BibTeX
@misc{kunnumkai2026characterizing,
title = {{Characterizing Gravitational Wave Electromagnetic Counterparts with the Schmidt Observatory System}},
author = {Keerthi Kunnumkai and Antonella Palmese and Thomas Wevers and Mattia Bulla and Suvi Gezari and Saul Perlmutter and Liliana Rivera Sandoval and Gudmundur Stefansson and Mickael Rigault and Arpita Roy},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.05461},
eprint = {2611.05461},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.05461},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Characterizing Gravitational Wave Electromagnetic Counterparts with the Schmidt Observatory System
AU - Keerthi Kunnumkai
AU - Antonella Palmese
AU - Thomas Wevers
AU - Mattia Bulla
AU - Suvi Gezari
AU - Saul Perlmutter
AU - Liliana Rivera Sandoval
AU - Gudmundur Stefansson
AU - Mickael Rigault
AU - Arpita Roy
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/03
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.05461
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.05461
AB - The emergence of gravitational wave (GW) multimessenger astronomy, marked by the detection of GW170817 and its associated kilonova, has opened a new window into the physics of compact binary mergers. Building a statistical population of kilonovae remains a challenge, limited by the low neutron star merger detection rates and the rapid evolution of these faint transients. The former problem will be overcome with upcoming LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA (LVK) sensitivity improvements leading to the fifth Observing Run (O5), while the latter will be addressed by the Schmidt Observatory System (including the Argus Array, the Deep Synoptic Array (DSA), and the Lazuli Space Observatory), in addition to ongoing and upcoming surveys (including the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time). Using simulations of expected kilonovae at LVK O5 sensitivity, we find that Argus and Rubin could detect binary neutron star kilonovae at a rate of 0.3-4.2 yr^−1 and 0.6-7.0 yr^−1 respectively. For neutron star-black hole mergers, Rubin could detect up to 1 kilonova per year. Lazuli will be able to characterize this kilonova population down to g ∼ 26 mag as early as 12 hours post merger. Additionally, ∼35% of these events are expected to exhibit a jet afterglow that will be detectable by DSA. We further characterize kilonova spectra to determine observable features of heavy element production. Finally, we develop an observing strategy that combines high cadence imaging and spectral monitoring, maximizing Lazuli's ability to constrain ejecta properties and composition of GW counterparts with reasonable observing time.
ER -