Inferring Kilonova Population Properties with a Hierarchical Bayesian Framework. I. Nondetection Methodology and Single-event Analyses
Abstract

We presentnimbus: a hierarchical Bayesian framework to infer the intrinsic luminosity parameters of kilonovae (KNe) associated with gravitational-wave (GW) events, based purely on nondetections. This framework makes use of GW 3D distance information and electromagnetic upper limits from multiple surveys for multiple events and self-consistently accounts for the finite sky coverage and probability of astrophysical origin. The framework is agnostic to the brightness evolution assumed and can account for multiple electromagnetic passbands simultaneously. Our analyses highlight the importance of accounting for model selection effects, especially in the context of nondetections. We show our methodology using a simple, two-parameter linear brightness model, taking the follow-up of GW190425 with the Zwicky Transient Facility as a single-event test case for two different prior choices of model parameters: (i) uniform/uninformative priors and (ii) astrophysical priors based on surrogate models of Monte Carlo radiative-transfer simulations of KNe. We present results under the assumption that the KN is within the searched region to demonstrate functionality and the importance of prior choice. Our results show consistency withsimsurvey—an astronomical survey simulation tool used previously in the literature to constrain the population of KNe. While our results based on uniform priors strongly constrain the parameter space, those based more »

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Award ID(s):
Publication Date:
NSF-PAR ID:
10362223
Journal Name:
The Astrophysical Journal
Volume:
925
Issue:
1
Page Range or eLocation-ID:
Article No. 58
ISSN:
0004-637X
Publisher:
DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
National Science Foundation
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2. ABSTRACT

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4. Abstract

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5. ABSTRACT

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