Search for Ultra-high-energy Photons from Gravitational Wave Sources with the Pierre Auger Observatory
A search for time-directional coincidences of ultra-high-energy (UHE) photons above 10 EeV with gravitational wave (GW) events from the LIGO/Virgo runs O1 to O3 is conducted with the Pierre Auger Observatory. Due to the distinctive properties of photon interactions and to the background expected from hadronic showers, a subset of the most interesting GW events is selected based on their localization quality and distance. Time periods of 1000 s around and 1 day after the GW events are analyzed. No coincidences are observed. Upper limits on the UHE photon fluence from a GW event are derived that are typically at ~7 MeV cm-2 (time period 1000 s) and ~35 MeV cm-2 (time period 1 day). Due to the proximity of the binary neutron star merger GW170817, the energy of the source transferred into UHE photons above 40 EeV is constrained to be less than 20% of its total GW energy. These are the first limits on UHE photons from GW sources.
- Research Organization:
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Contributing Organization:
- Pierre Auger
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-07CH11359; FR02-04ER41300; FG02-99ER41107; SC0011689; 0450696
- OSTI ID:
- 2228297
- Report Number(s):
- FERMILAB-PUB-23-745-TD; arXiv:2307.10839; oai:inspirehep.net:2678945
- Journal Information:
- The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 952, Issue 1; ISSN 0004-637X
- Publisher:
- IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Ultrahigh-energy neutrino follow-up of gravitational wave events GW150914 and GW151226 with the Pierre Auger Observatory
Inferences on mass composition and tests of hadronic interactions from 0.3 to 100 EeV using the water-Cherenkov detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory