Constraining Possible γ-Ray Burst Emission from GW230529 Using Swift-BAT and Fermi-GBM

Authors

Samuele Ronchini, Pennsylvania State University
Suman Bala, Huntsville Program Office
Joshua Wood, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
James Delaunay, Pennsylvania State University
Simone Dichiara, Pennsylvania State University
Jamie A. Kennea, Pennsylvania State University
Tyler Parsotan, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Gayathri Raman, Pennsylvania State University
Aaron Tohuvavohu, University of Toronto
Naresh Adhikari, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Narayana P. Bhat, Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research
Sylvia Biscoveanu, Northwestern University
Elisabetta Bissaldi, Politecnico di Bari
Eric Burns, Louisiana State University
Sergio Campana, Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera
Koustav Chandra, Pennsylvania State University
William H. Cleveland, Huntsville Program Office
Sarah Dalessi, Department of Space Science
Massimiliano De Pasquale, Università degli Studi di Messina
Juan García-Bellido, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Claudio Gasbarra, Università degli Studi di Roma "Tor Vergata"
Misty M. Giles, Jacobs Space Exploration Group
Ish Gupta, Pennsylvania State University
Dieter Hartmann, Clemson University
Boyan A. Hristov, Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research
Michelle C. Hui, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Rahul Kashyap, Pennsylvania State University
Daniel Kocevski, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Bagrat Mailyan, College of Engineering and Science
Christian Malacaria, International Space Science Institute
Hiroyuki Nakano, Ryukoku University
Giacomo Principe, Università degli Studi di Trieste
Oliver J. Roberts, Universities Space Research Association

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-1-2024

Abstract

GW230529 is the first compact binary coalescence detected by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration with at least one component mass confidently in the lower mass gap, corresponding to the range 3-5 M ⊙. If interpreted as a neutron star-black hole merger, this event has the most symmetric mass ratio detected so far and therefore has a relatively high probability of producing electromagnetic (EM) emission. However, no EM counterpart has been reported. At the merger time t 0, Swift-BAT and Fermi-GBM together covered 100% of the sky. Performing a targeted search in a time window [t 0 − 20 s, t 0 + 20 s], we report no detection by the Swift-BAT and Fermi-GBM instruments. Combining the position-dependent γ-ray flux upper limits and the gravitational-wave posterior distribution of luminosity distance, sky localization, and inclination angle of the binary, we derive constraints on the characteristic luminosity and structure of the jet possibly launched during the merger. Assuming a top-hat jet structure, we exclude at 90% credibility the presence of a jet that has at the same time an on-axis isotropic luminosity ≳10⁴⁸ erg s⁻¹ in the bolometric band 1 keV-10 MeV and a jet opening angle ≳15°. Similar constraints are derived by testing other assumptions about the jet structure profile. Excluding GRB 170817A, the luminosity upper limits derived here are below the luminosity of any GRB observed so far.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Astrophysical Journal Letters

Recommended Citation

Ronchini, S., Bala, S., Wood, J., Delaunay, J., Dichiara, S., Kennea, J., Parsotan, T., Raman, G., Tohuvavohu, A., Adhikari, N., Bhat, N., Biscoveanu, S., Bissaldi, E., Burns, E., Campana, S., Chandra, K., Cleveland, W., Dalessi, S., De Pasquale, M., García-Bellido, J., Gasbarra, C., Giles, M., Gupta, I., Hartmann, D., Hristov, B., Hui, M., Kashyap, R., Kocevski, D., Mailyan, B., Malacaria, C., Nakano, H., Principe, G., & Roberts, O. (2024). Constraining Possible γ-Ray Burst Emission from GW230529 Using Swift-BAT and Fermi-GBM. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 970 (1) https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad5d74