Search for very-high-energy emission with HAWC from GW170817 event

TL;DR

This study uses HAWC data to search for very-high-energy gamma-ray emission from the GW170817 event, setting upper limits on TeV photons and extending the analysis to similar GRBs, contributing to multi-messenger astronomy.

Contribution

First to analyze HAWC data for VHE gamma-ray emission from GW170817 and similar GRBs, providing upper limits in the 1-100 TeV range.

Findings

No VHE gamma-ray counts observed up to 120 days after GW170817

Derived upper limits on TeV emission from GW170817

Extended analysis to similar GRBs with comparable features

Abstract

The detection of the gravitational wave GW170817 defined a breakthrough in multi-messenger astronomy. For the first time, a gravitational wave transient detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo interferometer was associated with a faint electromagnetic gamma-ray counterpart reported by the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) aboard on the Fermi satellite. GRB 170817A was followed up by an enormous observational campaign covering a large fraction of the electromagnetic spectrum. In this work, we use the data from High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) gamma-ray observatory to search for very-high-energy (VHE) TeV photons in coincidence with the X-ray emission from GRB 170817A. Since no counts were observed up to $\sim$120 days after the trigger time, we derive and report the corresponding upper limits in the energy range from 1 to 100 TeV. In addition, we extend the analysis to GRBs with similar features proposed by A. von Kienlin.