Multimessenger Bayesian parameter inference of a binary neutron star merger

Abstract

The combined detection of a binary neutron star merger in both gravitational waves (GWs) and electromagnetic (EM) radiation spanning the entire spectrum - GW170817/AT2017gfo/GRB170817A - marks a breakthrough in the field of multimessenger astronomy. Between the plethora of modelling and observations, the rich synergy that exists among the available data sets creates a unique opportunity to constrain the binary parameters, the equation of state of supranuclear density matter, and the physical processes at work during the kilonova and gamma-ray burst. We report, for the first time, Bayesian parameter estimation combining information from GW170817, AT2017gfo, and GRB170817 to obtain truly multimessenger constraints on the tidal deformability $tilde{Lambda } in [302,860]$, total binary mass M [2.722, 2.751] M1, the radius of a 1.4 solar mass neutron star $R in [11.3,13.5] ,,rm km$ (with additional $0.2 rm km$ systematic uncertainty), and an upper bound on the mass ratio of q ≤ 1.27, all at 90 per cent confidence. Our joint novel analysis uses new phenomenological descriptions of the dynamical ejecta, debris disc mass, and remnant black hole properties, all derived from a large suite of numerical relativity simulations.