Multi-Messenger Observations of GRBs: The GW connection

TL;DR

This paper reviews the groundbreaking multi-messenger observations of gamma-ray bursts coinciding with gravitational wave detections from neutron star mergers, highlighting past results, current strategies, and future prospects in gamma-ray astronomy.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of gamma-ray observations related to gravitational wave events from 2015 to 2019, emphasizing new strategies and future mission prospects.

Findings

First joint GRB-GW detection in 2017 confirmed neutron star mergers as GRB sources.

Review of gamma-ray experiment results during LIGO-Virgo O1/O2 runs.

Discussion of upcoming gamma-ray missions for GW counterpart detection.

Abstract

Two years ago, the astronomical community witnessed a historical breakthrough observation: the detection of a short Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) by gamma-ray instruments in coincidence with the detection of a Gravitation Wave (GW) signal produced by the coalescence of two binary neutron stars. This joint GRB-GW observation paved the way to a new chapter in modern astrophysics: the "Multi-Messenger" era. In this contribution, I will review the main results by gamma-ray experiments obtained from 2015 to 2017 during the first two observational runs of the LIGO-Virgo experiments (O1/O2), and highlight strategies and status during the current run (O3) which will cover a 1-year period starting April 2019. Finally, I will focus on future prospects for gamma-ray missions dedicated to GW counterpart studies.