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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.17267 |
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| _version_ | 1866917415227490304 |
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| author | Liu, Zhengyan Xu, Zelin Jiang, Ji-an Zhao, Wen Jin, Zhiping Dai, Zigao Meng, Dezheng Wu, Xuefeng Wei, Daming Liang, Runduo He, Lei Cai, Minxuan Fan, Lulu Wu, Weiyu Zhao, Junhan Jia, Ziqing Yu, Kexin Geng, Jinjun Xiao, Di Li, Feng Tang, Jinlong Zuo, Yingxi Zhang, Xiaoling Liu, Hao Wang, Jian Zhang, Hongfei Liang, Ming Wang, Hairen Yao, Dazhi Hu, Lei Kong, Xu Li, Bin Jiang, Ning Wang, Tinggui Wan, Zhen Xue, Yongquan Zhu, Qingfeng Zheng, Xianzhong |
| author_facet | Liu, Zhengyan Xu, Zelin Jiang, Ji-an Zhao, Wen Jin, Zhiping Dai, Zigao Meng, Dezheng Wu, Xuefeng Wei, Daming Liang, Runduo He, Lei Cai, Minxuan Fan, Lulu Wu, Weiyu Zhao, Junhan Jia, Ziqing Yu, Kexin Geng, Jinjun Xiao, Di Li, Feng Tang, Jinlong Zuo, Yingxi Zhang, Xiaoling Liu, Hao Wang, Jian Zhang, Hongfei Liang, Ming Wang, Hairen Yao, Dazhi Hu, Lei Kong, Xu Li, Bin Jiang, Ning Wang, Tinggui Wan, Zhen Xue, Yongquan Zhu, Qingfeng Zheng, Xianzhong |
| contents | The gravitational wave (GW) event S250206dm, as the first well-localized neutron star merger candidate potentially located in the mass gap, presented a unique opportunity to probe the electromagnetic signatures from such a system. Here we report a deep, multiband search with the new 2.5-meter Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST), covering about 64% of the localization region up to a 5-sigma limiting magnitude of 23 mag. In total, 12 potential candidates have been identified while none of them are likely related to S250206dm. This non-detection provides the most stringent constraint to date on any associated kilonova. Crucially, an AT 2017gfo-like event at 269 Mpc can be excluded by WFST observations alone. Based on ejecta mass limits, a neutron star-black hole with a large mass ratio (Q >= 3.2) is disfavored. This optical-derived constraint on the mass ratio reaches, for the first time, a precision comparable to that inferred from the GW signal. This work presents the best observation of this type of events until now, and demonstrates the power of rapid, deep follow-up observations to constrain the properties of compact binary progenitors, offering key insights into the constituents of the mass gap. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_17267 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Illuminating the Mass Gap Through Deep Optical Constraint on a Neutron Star Merger Candidate S250206dm Liu, Zhengyan Xu, Zelin Jiang, Ji-an Zhao, Wen Jin, Zhiping Dai, Zigao Meng, Dezheng Wu, Xuefeng Wei, Daming Liang, Runduo He, Lei Cai, Minxuan Fan, Lulu Wu, Weiyu Zhao, Junhan Jia, Ziqing Yu, Kexin Geng, Jinjun Xiao, Di Li, Feng Tang, Jinlong Zuo, Yingxi Zhang, Xiaoling Liu, Hao Wang, Jian Zhang, Hongfei Liang, Ming Wang, Hairen Yao, Dazhi Hu, Lei Kong, Xu Li, Bin Jiang, Ning Wang, Tinggui Wan, Zhen Xue, Yongquan Zhu, Qingfeng Zheng, Xianzhong High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology The gravitational wave (GW) event S250206dm, as the first well-localized neutron star merger candidate potentially located in the mass gap, presented a unique opportunity to probe the electromagnetic signatures from such a system. Here we report a deep, multiband search with the new 2.5-meter Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST), covering about 64% of the localization region up to a 5-sigma limiting magnitude of 23 mag. In total, 12 potential candidates have been identified while none of them are likely related to S250206dm. This non-detection provides the most stringent constraint to date on any associated kilonova. Crucially, an AT 2017gfo-like event at 269 Mpc can be excluded by WFST observations alone. Based on ejecta mass limits, a neutron star-black hole with a large mass ratio (Q >= 3.2) is disfavored. This optical-derived constraint on the mass ratio reaches, for the first time, a precision comparable to that inferred from the GW signal. This work presents the best observation of this type of events until now, and demonstrates the power of rapid, deep follow-up observations to constrain the properties of compact binary progenitors, offering key insights into the constituents of the mass gap. |
| title | Illuminating the Mass Gap Through Deep Optical Constraint on a Neutron Star Merger Candidate S250206dm |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.17267 |