Detecting Electromagnetic Counterparts to LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA Gravitational-wave Events with DECam: Neutron Star Mergers

With GW170817 being the only multimessenger gravitational-wave (GW) event with an associated kilonova detected so far, there exists a pressing need for realistic estimation of the GW localization uncertainties and rates, as well as optimization of available telescope time to enable the detection of new kilonovae. We simulate GW events assuming a data-driven distribution of binary parameters for the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA fourth and fifth observing runs (O4 and O5). We map the binary neutron star (BNS) and neutron star–black hole (NSBH) properties to the kilonova optical light curves. We use the simulated population of kilonovae to generate follow-up observing plans, with the primary goal of optimizing detection with the Gravitational Wave Multi-Messenger Astronomy DECam Survey. We explore the dependence of kilonova detectability on the mass, distance, inclination, and spin of the binaries. Assuming that no BNS was detected during O4 until the end of 2024, we present updated GW BNS (NSBH) merger detection rates. We expect to detect BNS (NSBH) kilonovae with DECam at a per-year rate of 0–2.0 (0) in O4 and 2.0–19 (0–1.0) in O5. We expect the majority of BNS detections and also those accompanied by a detectable kilonova to produce a hypermassive NS remnant, with a significant fraction of the remaining BNSs promptly collapsing to a BH. We release GW simulations and depths required to detect kilonovae based on our predictions to support the astronomical community in their multimessenger follow-up campaigns and analyses.

A.P. acknowledges support for this work by NSF grant No. 2308193. M.B. acknowledges the Department of Physics and Earth Science of the University of Ferrara for the financial support through the FIRD 2024 grant. T.D. acknowledges funding from the European Union (ERC, SMArt, 101076369). Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. B.O’.C. is supported by the McWilliams Postdoctoral Fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University. This research used resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported by the Office of Science of the US Department of Energy under contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 using NERSC awards HEP-ERCAP0029208 and HEP-ERCAP0022871. This work used resources on the Vera Cluster at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. We thank T. J. Olesky and the PSC staff for help with setting up our software on the Vera Cluster.