Prospects for joint radio telescope and gravitational-wave searches for astrophysical transients

V Predoi (1) , J Clark (1) , T Creighton (2) , E Daw (3) , S Fairhurst (1) , I S Heng (4) , J Kanner (5) , T Regimbau (6) , P Shawhan (5) , X Siemens (7) , P Sutton (1) , A Vecchio (8) , D White (3) , G Woan (4)

1 Cardiff University
2 The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College
3 University of Sheffield [Sheffield]
4 University of Glasgow
5 University of Maryland [College Park]
6 ARTEMIS - Astrophysique Relativiste Théories Expériences Métrologie Instrumentation Signaux
7 University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
8 University of Birmingham [Birmingham]

The radio skies remain mostly unobserved when it comes to transient phenomena. The direct detection of gravitational waves will mark a major milestone of modern astronomy, as an entirely new window will open on the universe. Two apparently independent phenomena can be brought together in a coincident effort that has the potential to boost both searches. In this paper we will outline the scientific case that stands behind these future joint observations and will describe the methods that might be used to conduct the searches and analyze the data. The targeted sources are binary systems of compact objects, known to be strong candidate sources for gravitational waves. Detection of transients coincident in these two channels would be a significant 'smoking gun ' for first direct detection of gravitational waves, and would open up a new field for characterization of astrophysical transients involving massive compact objects.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

V Predoi, J Clark, T Creighton, E Daw, S Fairhurst, et al.. Prospects for joint radio telescope and gravitational-wave searches for astrophysical transients. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 2010, 27 (8), pp.84018. ⟨10.1088/0264-9381/27/8/084018⟩. ⟨hal-00587615⟩