Focus on Exploring Fundamental Physics with Extragalactic Transients

The observed time delays between different energy bands from TeV blazars provide a new, interesting way of testing the Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP). If the whole time delay is assumed to be dominated by the gravitational field of the Milky Way, the conservative upper limit on the EEP can be estimated. Here, we show that the strict limits on the differences of the parameterized post-Newtonian parameter γ values are ${\gamma }_{{\rm{TeV}}}-{\gamma }_{{\rm{keV}}}\lt 3.86\times {10}^{-3}$ for Mrk 421 and ${\gamma }_{{\rm{TeV}}}-{\gamma }_{{\rm{keV}}}\lt 4.43\times {10}^{-3}$ for Mrk 501, while expanding the scope of the tested EEP energy range out to the TeV–keV range for the first time. With the small time lag from the 0.2–0.8 TeV and >0.8 TeV light curves of PKS 2155-304, a much more severe constraint on γ differences of ∼10⁻⁶ can be achieved, although the energy difference is of the order of ∼TeV. Furthermore, we can combine these limits on the energy dependence of γ with the bound on the absolute γ value $\gamma -1\sim 0.3\%$ from light deflection measurements at the optical (eV) bands, and conclude that this absolute bound on γ can be extended from optical to TeV energies.

We present a search, using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), for electromagnetic (EM) counterparts to two candidate high-energy neutrino events detected by the ANTARES neutrino telescope in 2013 November and 2014 March. These events were selected by ANTARES because they are consistent, within 04, with the locations of galaxies within 20 Mpc of Earth. Using MWA archival data at frequencies between 118 and 182 MHz, taken ∼20 days prior to, at the same time as, and up to a year after the neutrino triggers, we look for transient or strongly variable radio sources that are consistent with the neutrino positions. No such counterparts are detected, and we set a 5σ upper limit for low-frequency radio emission of ∼10³⁷ erg s⁻¹ for progenitors at 20 Mpc. If the neutrino sources are instead not in nearby galaxies, but originate in binary neutron star coalescences, our limits place the progenitors at z ≳ 0.2. While it is possible, due to the high background from atmospheric neutrinos, that neither event is astrophysical, the MWA observations are nevertheless among the first to follow up neutrino candidates in the radio, and illustrate the promise of wide-field instruments like MWA for detecting EM counterparts to such events.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) have recently been used to place limits on Einstein's Equivalence Principle via observations of time delays between photons of different radio frequencies by Wei et al. These limits on differential post-Newtonian parameters (${\rm{\Delta }}\gamma \lt 2.52\times {10}^{-8}$) are the best yet achieved, but they still rely on uncertain assumptions, namely the relative contributions of dispersion and gravitational delays to the observed time delays and the distances to FRBs. Also, very recently, the first FRB host galaxy has likely been identified, providing the first redshift-based distance estimate to FRB 150418. Moreover, consistency between the ${{\rm{\Omega }}}_{{\rm{IGM}}}$ estimate from FRB 150418 and ${{\rm{\Omega }}}_{{\rm{IGM}}}$, expected from ΛCDM models and WMAP observations, leads one to conclude that the observed time delay for FRB 150418 is highly dominated by dispersion, with any gravitational delays being small contributors. This points to even tighter limits on Δγ. In this paper, the technique of Wei et al. is applied to FRB 150418 to produce a limit of Δγ < 1–2 × 10⁻⁹, approximately an order of magnitude better than previous limits and in line with expectations by Wei et al. for what could be achieved if the dispersive delay is separated from other effects. Future substantial improvements in such limits will depend on accurately determining the contribution of individual ionized components to the total observed time delays for FRBs.

An interesting test of Einstein's equivalence principle (EEP) relies on the observed lag in the arrival times of photons emitted from extragalactic transient sources. Attributing the lag between photons of different energies to the gravitational potential of the Milky Way (MW), several authors derive new constraints on deviations from EEP. It is shown here that potential fluctuations from the large-scale structure are at least two orders of magnitude larger than the gravitational potential of the MW. Combined with the larger distances, for sources at redshift $z\gtrsim 0.5$ the rms of the contribution from these fluctuations exceeds the MW by more than four orders of magnitude. We provide actual constraints for several objects based on a statistical calculation of the large-scale fluctuations in the standard ΛCDM cosmological model.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are radio bursts characterized by millisecond durations, high Galactic latitude positions, and high dispersion measures. Very recently, the cosmological origin of FRB 150418 has been confirmed by Keane et al., and FRBs are now strong competitors as cosmological probes. The simple sharp feature of the FRB signal is ideal to probe some of the fundamental laws of physics. Here we show that by analyzing the delay time between different frequencies, the FRB data can place stringent upper limits on the rest mass of the photon. For FRB 150418 at z = 0.492, one can potentially reach ${m}_{\gamma }\leqslant 5.2\times {10}^{-47}$ g, which is 10²⁰ times smaller than the rest mass of electron and is about 10³ times smaller than that obtained using other astrophysical sources with the same method.

A gravitational-wave (GW) transient was identified in data recorded by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors on 2015 September 14. The event, initially designated G184098 and later given the name GW150914, is described in detail elsewhere. By prior arrangement, preliminary estimates of the time, significance, and sky location of the event were shared with 63 teams of observers covering radio, optical, near-infrared, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths with ground- and space-based facilities. In this Letter we describe the low-latency analysis of the GW data and present the sky localization of the first observed compact binary merger. We summarize the follow-up observations reported by 25 teams via private Gamma-ray Coordinates Network circulars, giving an overview of the participating facilities, the GW sky localization coverage, the timeline, and depth of the observations. As this event turned out to be a binary black hole merger, there is little expectation of a detectable electromagnetic (EM) signature. Nevertheless, this first broadband campaign to search for a counterpart of an Advanced LIGO source represents a milestone and highlights the broad capabilities of the transient astronomy community and the observing strategies that have been developed to pursue neutron star binary merger events. Detailed investigations of the EM data and results of the EM follow-up campaign are being disseminated in papers by the individual teams.

This Supplement provides supporting material for Abbott et al. (2016a). We briefly summarize past electromagnetic (EM) follow-up efforts as well as the organization and policy of the current EM follow-up program. We compare the four probability sky maps produced for the gravitational-wave transient GW150914, and provide additional details of the EM follow-up observations that were performed in the different bands.

The Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP) can be probed with astrophysical sources emitting simultaneously different types of neutral particles, or particles with varying energies, by testing their time of flight through the same gravitational field. Here we use the time delays between correlated photons from cosmological transients to constrain the accuracy of the EEP. We take data from two gamma-ray bursts as an example and, as a lower limit to the theoretical time delays between different energies, we use delays arising from only the gravitational field of our own galaxy. We then show that the parameterized post-Newtonian parameter γ is the same for photons over energy ranges between eV and MeV and between MeV and GeV to a part in 10⁻⁷, which is at least one order of magnitude better than previous limits. Combining this bound on the wavelength dependence of γ with the absolute bound $| \gamma -1| \lt 0.3\%$ from light-deflection measurements at optical (eV) wavelengths, we thus extend this absolute bound on γ to GeV energies.