Seminars and Colloquia
Physics
Unraveling the mystery of the neutron star merger gravitational wave event, GW 170817, at radio frequencies
Mon, Nov 19, 2018,
04:20 PM
at Seminar Hall 31, 2nd Floor, Main Building
Prof. Poonam Chandra
NCRA, TIFR, Mumbai
Abstract: GW 170817 marks the first gravitational wave detection of a binary neutron-star (BNS) merger by the Advanced LIGO and the Advanced VIRGO detectors. This is also the first gravitational wave event from which the electromagnetic (EM) emission was seen all the way from gamma-rays to radio bands. With the detection of a short gamma ray burst by the Fermi after a delay of 1.7s, at first it seemed to confirm the association of short gamma ray bursts with the BNS mergers. However, the the peculiar characteristics of the gamma-ray emission and the radio data till first one hundred days showed inconsistencies with this traditional model. With the rich and well sampled radio data using multiple radio telescopes such as JVLA, ATCA and uGMRT, combined with the Very Long Baseline Interferrometry measurements, we have been able to understand the geometry and energetics of this exciting event. In this talk, I will take you through the journey of this special event and describe how the radio observations have played a crucial role in unfolding the very nature of this event.
GW170817 represents only an initial exploration of a rich scientific landscape populated merger of massive binary systems. The study of radio afterglows of neutron star mergers detected by LIGO/Virgo in their upcoming observing runs will be able to address many unsolved questions in this field.
