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Register a new userScience with an ngVLA: Compact binary mergers as traced by gravitational waves
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Authors
Alessandra Corsi
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In light of the recent dazzling discovery of GW170817, we discuss several new scientific opportunities that would emerge in multi-messenger time-domain astrophysics if a facility like the next generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) were to work in tandem with ground-based gravitational wave (GW) detectors. These opportunities include probing wide-angle ejecta and off-axis afterglows of neutron star (NS)-NS mergers; enabling direct size measurements of radio ejecta from NS-NS mergers; and unraveling the physics behind the progenitors of compact binary mergers via host galaxy studies at radio wavelengths. Our results show that, thanks to its unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, the ngVLA will enable transformational results in the multi-messenger exploration of the transient radio sky.
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Observations with modern radio telescopes have revealed that classical novae are far from the simple, spherically symmetric events they were once assumed to be. It is now understood that novae provide excellent laboratories to study several astrophysical properties including binary interactions, stellar outflows, and shock physics. The ngVLA will provide unprecedented opportunities to study these events. It will enable us to observe more distant and fainter novae than we can today. It will allow us to simultaneously resolve both the thermal and non-thermal components in the ejecta. Finally, monitoring novae with the ngVLA will reveal the evolution of the ejecta in better detail than is possible with any current instrument.
We present the results of a community study aimed at exploring some of the scientific opportunities that the next generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) could open in the field of multi-messenger time-domain astronomy. We focus on compact binary mergers, golden astrophysical targets of ground-based gravitational wave (GW) detectors such as advanced LIGO. A decade from now, a large number of these mergers is likely to be discovered by a world-wide network of GW detectors. This will enable the identification of host galaxies, either directly through detection of electromagnetic (EM) counterparts, or indirectly by probing potential anisotropies in the spatial distribution of mergers. Identifying the host galaxy population of GW mergers would provide a way to constrain the efficiency of various binary neutron star (NS) or black hole (BH) formation scenarios, and the merger timescale distributions as linked to merger rates in early- and late-type galaxies. We discuss how a radio array with ~10x the sensitivity of the current Karl G. Jansky VLA and ~10x the resolution, would enable resolved radio continuum studies of binary merger hosts, probing regions of the galaxy undergoing star formation (which can be heavily obscured by dust and gas), AGN components, and mapping the offset distribution of the mergers with respect to the host galaxy light. For compact binary mergers containing at least one NS and with associated EM counterparts, we show how the ngVLA would enable direct size measurements of the relativistic merger ejecta and probe, for the first time directly, their dynamics.
In the multi-messenger astronomy era, accurate sky localization and low latency time of gravitational-wave (GW) searches are keys in triggering successful follow-up observations on the electromagnetic counterpart of GW signals. We, in this work, focus on the latency time and study the feasibility of adopting supervised machine learning (ML) method for ranking candidate GW events. We consider two popular ML methods, random forest and neural networks. We observe that the evaluation time of both methods takes tens of milliseconds for $sim$ 45,000 evaluation samples. We compare the classification efficiency between the two ML methods and a conventional low-latency search method with respect to the true positive rate at given false positive rate. The comparison shows that about 10% improved efficiency can be achieved at lower false positive rate $sim 2 times 10^{-5}$ with both ML methods. We also present that the search sensitivity can be enhanced by about 18% at $sim 10^{-11}$Hz false alarm rate. We conclude that adopting ML methods for ranking candidate GW events is a prospective approach to yield low latency and high efficiency in searches for GW signals from compact binary mergers.
The science case and associated science requirements for a next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) are described, highlighting the five key science goals developed out of a community-driven vision of the highest scientific priorities in the next decade. Building on the superb cm observing conditions and existing infrastructure of the VLA site in the U.S. Southwest, the ngVLA is envisaged to be an interferometric array with more than 10 times the sensitivity and spatial resolution of the current VLA and ALMA, operating at frequencies spanning $sim1.2 - 116$,GHz with extended baselines reaching across North America. The ngVLA will be optimized for observations at wavelengths between the exquisite performance of ALMA at submm wavelengths, and the future SKA-1 at decimeter to meter wavelengths, thus lending itself to be highly complementary with these facilities. The ngVLA will be the only facility in the world that can tackle a broad range of outstanding scientific questions in modern astronomy by simultaneously delivering the capability to: (1) unveil the formation of Solar System analogues; (2) probe the initial conditions for planetary systems and life with astrochemistry; (3) characterize the assembly, structure, and evolution of galaxies from the first billion years to the present; (4) use pulsars in the Galactic center as fundamental tests of gravity; and (5) understand the formation and evolution of stellar and supermassive blackholes in the era of multi-messenger astronomy.
The next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) is an astronomical observatory planned to operate at centimeter wavelengths (25 to 0.26 centimeters, corresponding to a frequency range extending from 1.2 to 116 GHz). The observatory will be a synthesis radio telescope constituted of approximately 244 reflector antennas each of 18 meters diameter, and 19 reflector antennas each of 6 meters diameter, operating in a phased or interferometric mode. We provide a technical overview of the Reference Design of the ngVLA. This Reference Design forms a baseline for a technical readiness assessment and the construction and operations cost estimate of the ngVLA. The concepts for major system elements such as the antenna, receiving electronics, and central signal processing are presented.
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