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Main Authors: Ford, N. M., Vieira, Nicholas, Ruan, John J., Haggard, Daryl
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.15657
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author Ford, N. M.
Vieira, Nicholas
Ruan, John J.
Haggard, Daryl
author_facet Ford, N. M.
Vieira, Nicholas
Ruan, John J.
Haggard, Daryl
contents Kilonovae are likely a key site of heavy r-process element production in the Universe, and their optical/infrared spectra contain insights into both the properties of the ejecta and the conditions of the r-process. However, the event GW170817/AT2017gfo is the only kilonova so far with well-observed spectra. To understand the diversity of absorption features that might be observed in future kilonovae spectra, we use the TARDIS Monte Carlo radiative transfer code to simulate a suite of optical spectra spanning a wide range of kilonova ejecta properties and r-process abundance patterns. To identify the most common and prominent absorption lines, we perform dimensionality reduction using an autoencoder, and we find spectra clusters in the latent space representation using a Bayesian Gaussian Mixture model. Our synthetic kilonovae spectra commonly display strong absorption by strontium Sr II, yttrium Y II, and zirconium Zr I - II, with strong lanthanide contributions at low electron fractions (Ye < 0.25). When a new kilonova is observed, our machine learning framework will provide context on the dominant absorption lines and key ejecta properties, helping to determine where this event falls within the larger 'zoo' of kilonovae spectra.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2308_15657
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle KilonovAE: Exploring Kilonova Spectral Features with Autoencoders
Ford, N. M.
Vieira, Nicholas
Ruan, John J.
Haggard, Daryl
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Kilonovae are likely a key site of heavy r-process element production in the Universe, and their optical/infrared spectra contain insights into both the properties of the ejecta and the conditions of the r-process. However, the event GW170817/AT2017gfo is the only kilonova so far with well-observed spectra. To understand the diversity of absorption features that might be observed in future kilonovae spectra, we use the TARDIS Monte Carlo radiative transfer code to simulate a suite of optical spectra spanning a wide range of kilonova ejecta properties and r-process abundance patterns. To identify the most common and prominent absorption lines, we perform dimensionality reduction using an autoencoder, and we find spectra clusters in the latent space representation using a Bayesian Gaussian Mixture model. Our synthetic kilonovae spectra commonly display strong absorption by strontium Sr II, yttrium Y II, and zirconium Zr I - II, with strong lanthanide contributions at low electron fractions (Ye < 0.25). When a new kilonova is observed, our machine learning framework will provide context on the dominant absorption lines and key ejecta properties, helping to determine where this event falls within the larger 'zoo' of kilonovae spectra.
title KilonovAE: Exploring Kilonova Spectral Features with Autoencoders
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.15657