Constraining the Time of Gravitational Wave Emission from Core-Collapse Supernovae

Understand

The advent of sensitive gravitational wave (GW) detectors, coupled with wide-field, high cadence optical time-domain surveys, raises the possibility of the first joint GW-electromagnetic (EM) detections of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe).

• For targeted searches of GWs from CCSNe optical observations can be used to increase the sensitivity of the search by restricting the relevant time interval, defined here as the GW search window (GSW).
• The extent of the GSW is a critical factor in determining the achievable false alarm probability (FAP) for a triggered CCSN search.
• The ability to constrain the GSW from optical observations depends on how early a CCSN is detected, as well as the ability to model the early optical emission.