Data-driven Expectations for Electromagnetic Counterpart Searches Based on LIGO/Virgo Public Alerts

Searches for electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational-wave signals have redoubled since the first detection in 2017 of a binary neutron star merger with a gamma-ray burst, optical/infrared kilonova, and panchromatic afterglow. Yet, one LIGO/Virgo observing run later, there has not yet been a second, secure identification of an electromagnetic counterpart. This is not surprising given that the localization uncertainties of events in LIGO and Virgo’s third observing run, O3, were much larger than predicted. We explain this by showing that improvements in data analysis that now allow LIGO/Virgo to detect weaker and hence more poorly localized events have increased the overall number of detections, of which well-localized, gold-plated events make up a smaller proportion overall. We present simulations of the next two LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA observing runs, O4 and O5, that are grounded in the statistics of O3 public alerts. To illustrate the significant impact that the updated predictions can have, we study the follow-up strategy for the Zwicky Transient Facility. Realistic and timely forecasting of gravitational-wave localization accuracy is paramount given the large commitments of telescope time and the need to prioritize which events are followed up. We include a data release of our simulated localizations as a public proposal planning resource for astronomers.

2D in-plane elastic waves in curved-tapered square lattice frame structure

This work proposes a unique configuration of two-dimensional metamaterial lattice grid comprising of curved and tapered beams. The propagation of elastic waves in the structure is analyzed using the dynamic stiffness matrix (DSM) approach and the Floquet-Bloch theorem. The DSM for the unit cell is formulated under the extensional theory of curved beam considering the effects of shear and rotary inertia. The study considers two types of variable rectangular cross-sections, viz. single taper and double taper along the length of the beam. Further, the effect of curvature and taper on the wave propagation is analysed through the band diagram along the irreducible Brillouin zone. It is shown that a complete band gap, i.e. attenuation band in all the directions of wave propagation, in a homogeneous structure can be tailored with a suitable combination of curvature and taper. Generation of the complete bandgap is hinged upon the coupling of axial and transverse component of the lattice grid. This coupling emerges due to the presence of the curvature and further enhanced due to tapering. The double taper cross-section is shown to have wider attenuation characteristics than single taper cross-sections. Specifically, 83.36% and 63% normalized complete bandwidth is achieved for the double and single taper cross-section for a homogeneous metamaterial, respectively. Additional characteristics of the proposed metamaterial in time and frequency domain of the finite structure, vibration attenuation, wave localization in the equivalent finite structure are also studied.

Double defects-induced elastic wave coupling and energy localization in a phononic crystal

This study aims to investigate elastic wave localization that leverages defect band splitting in a phononic crystal with double defects through in-depth analysis of comparison of numerical and experimental results. When more than one defect is created inside a phononic crystal, these defects can interact with each other, resulting in a distinctive physical phenomenon from a single defect case: defect band splitting. For a phononic crystal consisting of circular-hole type unit cells in a thin aluminum plate, under A0 (the lowest antisymmetric) Lamb waves, both numerical simulations and experiments successfully confirm the defect band splitting phenomenon via frequency response functions for the out-of-plane displacement calculated/measured at the double defects within a finite distance. Furthermore, experimental visualization of in-phase and out-of-phase defect mode shapes at each frequency of the split defect bands is achieved and found to be in excellent agreement with the simulated results. Different inter-distance combinations of the double defects reveal that the degree of the defect band splitting decreases with the increasing distance due to weaker coupling between the defects. This work may shed light on engineering applications of a multiple-defect-introduced phononic crystal, including broadband energy harvesting, frequency detectors, and elastic wireless power transfer.

Phase Evolution of the Time- and Space-Like Peregrine Breather in a Laboratory

Coherent wave groups are not only characterized by the intrinsic shape of the wave packet, but also by the underlying phase evolution during the propagation. Exact deterministic formulations of hydrodynamic or electromagnetic coherent wave groups can be obtained by solving the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE). When considering the NLSE, there are two asymptotically equivalent formulations, which can be used to describe the wave dynamics: the time- or space-like NLSE. These differences have been theoretically elaborated upon in the 2016 work of Chabchoub and Grimshaw. In this paper, we address fundamental characteristic differences beyond the shape of wave envelope, which arise in the phase evolution. We use the Peregrine breather as a referenced wave envelope model, whose dynamics is created and tracked in a wave flume using two boundary conditions, namely as defined by the time- and space-like NLSE. It is shown that whichever of the two boundary conditions is used, the corresponding local shape of wave localization is very close and almost identical during the evolution; however, the respective local phase evolution is different. The phase dynamics follows the prediction from the respective NLSE framework adopted in each case.

Nonlinear surface waves propagating along composite waveguide consisting of nonlinear defocusing media separated by interfaces with nonlinear response

The nonlinear surface waves propagating along the ultra-thin-film layers with nonlinear properties separating three nonlinear media layers are considered. The model based on a stationary nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a nonlinear potential modeling the interaction of a wave with the interface in a short-range approximation is proposed. We concentrated on effects induced by the difference of characteristics of the layers and their two interfaces. The surface waves of three types exist in the system considered. The dispersion relations determining the dependence of surface waves energy on interface intensities and medium layer characteristics are obtained and analyzed. The localization energy is calculated in explicit form for many difference cases. The conditions of the wave localization on dependence of the layer and interface characteristics are derived. The surface waves with definite energies in specific cases existing only in the presence of the interface nonlinear response are found. All results are obtained in an explicit analytical form.

Corner states in a second-order mechanical topological insulator

Demonstration of topological boundary modes in elastic systems has attracted a great deal of attention over the past few years due to its unique protection characteristic. Recently, second-order topological insulators have been proposed in manipulating the topologically protected localized states emerging only at corners. Here, we numerically and experimentally study corner states in a two-dimensional phononic crystal, namely a continuous elastic plate with embedded bolts in a hexagonal pattern. We create interfacial corners by adjoining trivial and non-trivial topological configurations. Due to the rich interaction between the bolts and the continuous elastic plate, we find a variety of corner states of and devoid of topological origin. Strikingly, some of the corner states are not only highly-localized but also tunable. Taking advantage of this property, we experimentally demonstrate asymmetric corner localization in a Z-shaped domain wall. This finding could create interest in exploration of tunable corner states for the use of advanced control of wave localization.