Signal Synchronization Strategies and Time Domain SETI with Gaia DR3

TL;DR

This paper explores synchronization-based technosignature search strategies using Gaia DR3 variable star data, identifying a small subset of stars with potential synchronized signals linked to historical supernovae.

Contribution

It introduces a framework for analyzing potential extraterrestrial signals synchronized with astrophysical events using Gaia data, focusing on the SETI Ellipsoid and Seto's strategy.

Findings

Less than 0.01% of stars have crossing times within Gaia observation range.

Framework for detecting modulations in stellar variability parameters.

Potential candidate stars for synchronized extraterrestrial signals.

Abstract

Spatiotemporal techniques for signal coordination with actively transmitting extraterrestrial civilizations, without the need for prior communication, can constrain technosignature searches to a significantly smaller coordinate space. With the variable star catalog from Gaia Data Release 3, we explore two related signaling strategies: the SETI Ellipsoid, and that proposed by Seto, which are both based on the synchronization of transmissions with a conspicuous astrophysical event. This dataset contains more than 10 million variable star candidates with light curves from the first three years of Gaia's operational phase, between 2014 and 2017. Using four different historical supernovae as source events, we find that less than 0.01% of stars in the sample have crossing times, the times at which we would expect to receive synchronized signals on Earth, within the date range of available Gaia observations. For these stars, we present a framework for technosignature analysis that searches for modulations in the variability parameters by splitting the stellar light curve at the crossing time.