Gravity and Light: how multi-messenger astrophysics reveals heavy element formation and neutron star physics
Charles Donald Kilpatrick
Postdoctoral Fellow
CIERA
The promise of multi-messenger astrophysics was spectacularly realized in 2017 with the detection of a binary neutron star merger, GW170817, simultaneously localized by LIGO/Virgo in gravitational waves and telescopes observing across the electromagnetic spectrum. This single event led to ground-breaking new discoveries in the physics of compact objects, synthesis of heavy elements, and cosmology. The challenges of extending these discoveries to a large population of electromagnetic counterparts will require new observing and analysis techniques, instrumentation, and collaborations. On the heels of this seminal discovery, I will discuss new results from the most recent LIGO/Virgo observing run to detect new gravitational wave counterparts and the ongoing efforts to rapidly coordinate a global networks of telescopes, identify their multi-wavelength counterparts, and use these observations to further expand our understanding of compact objects and fundamental physics. I will then discuss new observing facilities and programs with which astronomers across the global are using X-ray, ultraviolet, and infrared facilities to better understand the formation of the heaviest elements and physics of neutron star mergers. These include wide-field, multi-wavelength counterpart searches in the ground and space, James Webb Space Telescope imaging and spectroscopy for well-localized counterparts, and an ongoing infrared time-domain survey with hundreds of infrared spectra for comparison to candidate gravitational wave counterparts.
Refreshments served at 3:45 PM
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