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Kilonova

A kilonova is a transient astronomical event characterized by a thermal, supernova-like explosion lasting days to weeks, powered by the radioactive decay of heavy, neutron-rich nuclei produced via rapid neutron capture (r-process) during the merger of two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole. These mergers eject neutron-rich material with masses typically ranging from $10^{-3} to $0.1\, M_\odot at velocities of $0.1–$0.3\,c, leading to isotropic emission primarily in ultraviolet, optical, and infrared wavelengths with peak luminosities of $10^{40}–$10^{42} erg/s.^[1] The concept of kilonovae emerged from theoretical predictions linking compact object mergers to electromagnetic transients, with early proposals for radioactive-powered events from neutron star collisions dating to 1998, and the term "kilonova" specifically coined in 2010 to describe the expected brightness roughly a thousand times that of a classical nova. The first observational confirmation came in 2017 with the binary neutron star merger GW170817, detected via gravitational waves by LIGO and Virgo, whose optical/infrared counterpart AT2017gfo exhibited a rapid "blue-to-red" color evolution consistent with lanthanide-free and lanthanide-rich ejecta components, respectively. This event, occurring at a distance of about 40 Mpc, marked the dawn of multi-messenger astronomy and provided direct evidence for kilonovae as merger signatures. Kilonovae play a pivotal role in astrophysics by serving as primary sites for the synthesis of heavy elements beyond iron, including gold, platinum, and uranium, through r-process nucleosynthesis in the ejected material, thereby explaining the cosmic abundance of these elements. Their spectra reveal high opacities from lanthanide elements in "red" components (peaking in near-infrared over days) and lower opacities in "blue" components (peaking optically within a day), offering insights into neutron star equations of state, merger dynamics, and potential associations with short gamma-ray bursts.^[1] Ongoing observations and simulations continue to refine models of ejecta composition, viewing-angle effects, and central engine contributions, such as from magnetar remnants, enhancing our understanding of extreme physics in compact object binaries.

Definition and Characteristics

Overview

A kilonova is a bright, short-lived electromagnetic transient arising as the counterpart to mergers of compact objects, such as neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole. These events are powered by the radioactive decay of heavy, neutron-rich elements synthesized through the rapid neutron capture process (r-process) in the material ejected during the merger. These properties were first observationally confirmed in the 2017 event GW170817 and subsequently in later mergers, such as the 2023 kilonova AT 2023vfi associated with GRB 230307A.^[2] Kilonovae differ fundamentally from supernovae, which arise from the core-collapse of massive stars or thermonuclear explosions in white dwarfs and are energized by explosive nuclear burning rather than r-process decay. Unlike these events involving direct stellar or stellar-remnant explosions, kilonovae result from the mergers of compact objects. In contrast to gamma-ray bursts, which produce highly directional, non-thermal emissions from relativistic jets primarily in gamma rays, kilonovae generate isotropic thermal radiation that dominates in optical and infrared wavelengths.^[3] These transients typically endure for days to weeks, reaching peak luminosities on the order of $10^{41} to $10^{42} erg s^{-1}. Their spectral evolution shifts from blue (optical/UV) to red (near-infrared) as lanthanide elements in the ejecta increase opacity, suppressing shorter-wavelength emission over time. Neutron star binary mergers represent the primary progenitors of kilonovae.^[3]

Physical Properties

Kilonovae display distinct spectral evolution characterized by an early blue continuum arising from lanthanide-free ejecta, which produces a featureless thermal spectrum peaking in the optical wavelengths around 1 day post-merger.^[4] This blue component, associated with high-velocity, proton-rich material, transitions to a redder spectrum dominated by lanthanide-rich ejecta, featuring broad absorption lines and peaking in the near-infrared (NIR) at wavelengths of 1.2–2.2 μm after several days to a week. The shift from optical to NIR emission reflects the increasing influence of heavy r-process elements, with overall peak wavelengths spanning the optical to infrared regime.^[5] The light curves of kilonovae exhibit a rapid rise over hours to ~1 day for the blue component, reaching a peak luminosity of ~10^{41}–10^{42} erg s^{-1}, followed by a decline over weeks following a power-law with index α ≈ 1.1–1.4.^[4] The red component rises more gradually over several days, peaks later at ~1 week with lower luminosity (~2–3 magnitudes fainter than the blue), and fades more slowly, extending emission for up to a month. This bolometric luminosity evolution is primarily powered by the radioactive decay heat from r-process nuclei in the ejecta.^[4] High opacity from heavy elements such as lanthanides and actinides, reaching values of ~20–30 cm² g^{-1}, significantly reddens the spectra and delays the light curve peak in lanthanide-rich material, contrasting with the lower opacity (~1–5 cm² g^{-1}) in lanthanide-free ejecta that enables brighter, bluer emission.^[5] These opacities, driven by bound-bound transitions in complex atomic structures, exceed those in iron-rich Type Ia supernovae, resulting in faster spectral evolution and a more obscured optical output for kilonovae. Interactions between kilonova ejecta and the circumstellar or interstellar medium can produce late-time radio emission through shock heating, potentially causing minor rebrightening, though this effect remains minimal compared to the prominent circumstellar interactions seen in core-collapse supernovae due to the lower ejecta mass (~0.01–0.1 M_⊙).^[4]

Progenitors

Neutron Star Binaries

Neutron star binaries, including neutron star-neutron star (NS-NS) and neutron star-black hole (NS-BH) systems, primarily form through the evolution of massive binary star progenitors in the mass range of 8–20 solar masses. These systems originate from stars that undergo core-collapse supernovae to produce the first compact object, followed by stable or unstable mass transfer episodes that shape the binary orbit. A critical phase in their formation is the common envelope evolution, where the expanding envelope of the more massive star engulfs the companion, leading to rapid orbital shrinkage through drag forces and energy transfer from the binary's orbital motion to eject the envelope. This process is essential for tightening the orbit sufficiently to form compact binaries with periods of hours to days, ultimately resulting in two compact objects bound in a close orbit. The inspiral of these binaries is driven by the emission of gravitational waves, which causes orbital decay by extracting angular momentum and energy from the system. According to the quadrupole formula, the radiated power scales as P \propto \frac{G^4 M^5}{c^5 a^5}, where M is the total mass, G is the gravitational constant, c is the speed of light, and a is the orbital separation (approximate for equal-mass binaries). This continuous energy loss leads to a shrinking orbit, accelerating the binary toward merger over cosmic timescales.^[6] For typical NS-NS systems with initial separations of around 1–10 solar radii post-envelope ejection, the merger timescale ranges from $10^8 to $10^{10} years, depending on the initial orbital parameters and the binary's formation history. Natal kicks imparted during supernova explosions—random velocity impulses of 100–500 km/s due to asymmetric mass ejection—can either disrupt the binary or induce eccentricity, which enhances gravitational wave emission and shortens the inspiral time compared to circular orbits. High eccentricity, often resulting from these kicks or three-body interactions in dense environments, allows for more efficient orbital decay, potentially bringing systems to merger within a Hubble time.^[7]^[8] NS-NS mergers generally produce more isotropic and abundant dynamical ejecta, on the order of 0.01–0.05 solar masses, due to the tidal deformation and collision of two comparable-mass neutron stars. In contrast, NS-BH mergers yield ejecta amounts that vary with the black hole's mass and spin; if the neutron star is fully tidally disrupted outside the black hole's innermost stable circular orbit, it can launch comparable or greater ejecta masses, though often more collimated along the equatorial plane. These differences influence the resulting multimessenger signals, with NS-NS systems typically producing brighter and more symmetric kilonova emission.^[9]

Alternative Scenarios

While the merger of binary neutron stars represents the primary progenitor channel for kilonovae, alternative scenarios involving the formation of rapidly rotating neutron stars, known as magnetars, have been proposed through the collapse of massive white dwarfs. In accretion-induced collapse (AIC), a white dwarf exceeding the Chandrasekhar mass limit accretes material, leading to its implosion into a neutron star with a strong magnetic field. This process generates neutron-rich outflows capable of powering kilonova-like transients via r-process nucleosynthesis and radioactive decay. Simulations indicate that these outflows can mimic the electromagnetic signatures of standard kilonovae, particularly in association with long gamma-ray bursts.^[10] Such events are rare, as they require specific conditions like rapid rotation and strong magnetization of the progenitor white dwarf.^[10] Another pathway involves the collapse of low-mass stars or the remnants thereof, where dynamical instabilities in binary systems trigger the formation of magnetars with kilonova-like ejecta. For instance, neutron star-white dwarf (NS-WD) mergers can disrupt the white dwarf, leading to the accretion of its material onto the neutron star and the amplification of magnetic fields through dynamo effects or flux conservation. The resulting magnetar spins down, injecting energy into surrounding outflows that produce transient emissions resembling kilonovae. These mergers may explain certain fast radio bursts with kilonova associations, but their rates are constrained by binary evolution models to be lower than those of neutron star binaries.^[11] Collapsar models, involving the core collapse of massive rotating stars, offer another hypothetical route where accretion disks around nascent black holes drive outflows that mimic kilonova signatures, termed "super-kilonovae." These events eject massive amounts of r-process material—up to several solar masses—powered by radioactive heating, but with significantly higher yields and longer durations compared to standard kilonovae. However, collapsars typically produce ⁵⁶Ni in quantities that lead to supernova-like components, distinguishing them through differing elemental abundances and light curve peaks in the near-infrared. Their rarity stems from the need for progenitors above the pair-instability mass gap, making them improbable as dominant kilonova sources.^[12] Exotic possibilities, such as disruptions by primordial black holes (PBHs) or additional NS-WD mergers, have been explored but face challenges from observed event rates. PBHs capturing and consuming neutron stars could eject neutron-rich debris, producing kilonova-type afterglows without gravitational waves, but this requires PBHs to constitute a non-negligible fraction of dark matter, which current constraints disfavor. Similarly, while NS-WD mergers can yield magnetars, their predicted merger rates are orders of magnitude lower than binary neutron star events, limiting their contribution. Current evidence, including gravitational wave detection rates and host galaxy demographics, weighs against these scenarios as primary progenitors.^[13]^[11] Observationally, alternative progenitors can be discriminated from standard binary neutron star mergers by the absence of gamma-ray bursts, which are common in collapsars but rarer or off-axis in mergers, and by light curve shapes showing prolonged plateaus or higher luminosities in super-kilonovae. For magnetar-driven events, radio afterglows from synchrotron emission during spin-down provide additional signatures, though overlapping with merger remnants. These differences underscore the uncertainties in kilonova origins, with ongoing multi-messenger observations key to resolution.^[14]^[10]

Theoretical Framework

Merger Dynamics

The inspiral phase of a binary neutron star (BNS) system is driven by the emission of gravitational waves, which extract orbital energy and angular momentum, causing the stars to spiral inward over the final milliseconds before collision.^[15] As the separation decreases to approximately 10-20 km, strong tidal forces deform the neutron stars, amplifying non-axisymmetric instabilities and leading to significant mass shedding from their outer layers.^[16] Upon contact, the colliding stars generate powerful shock waves propagating through the highly compressed matter, converting kinetic energy into thermal energy and further driving hydrodynamic instabilities that disrupt the stellar surfaces.^[15] The post-merger remnant typically forms a hypermassive neutron star (HMNS) supported temporarily against gravitational collapse by thermal pressure and centrifugal forces, with a central density exceeding twice the maximum stable value for cold neutron stars.^[16] Depending on the total binary mass (around 2.5-3 M_⊙ for typical systems) and the nuclear equation of state, this HMNS may either persist for seconds before collapsing into a black hole or, in less massive cases, evolve into a stable neutron star.^[15] Gravitational wave emission reaches its peak luminosity during this merger and ringdown phase, with the total energy budget radiated in gravitational waves amounting to approximately 10^{52} erg, representing a few percent of the initial rest mass energy.^[16]^[17] The initial ejecta is primarily launched through dynamical tidal stripping and shock-induced disruption during the collision, expelling neutron-rich material from the contact interface and polar regions.^[15] This dynamical ejecta has a typical mass of 10^{-3}-0.01 M_⊙ and exhibits a velocity distribution ranging from 0.1c to 0.3c, with the bulk moving at 0.15-0.25c due to the escape velocity from the merging stars.^[16] Angular momentum transport, facilitated by gravitational torques and non-axisymmetric deformations in the remnant, redirects excess orbital angular momentum outward, enabling the formation of a massive accretion disk (0.01-0.1 M_⊙) around the central HMNS or black hole within milliseconds of the merger.^[15]

Ejecta and Nucleosynthesis

The ejecta from a neutron star merger consists of two primary components: dynamical ejecta and disk wind ejecta. The dynamical ejecta, launched promptly during the merger through tidal disruption and shock heating at the interface of the colliding stars, has a typical mass of 10^{-4} to 10^{-2} M_\sun and velocities of 0.1–0.3c; it is neutron-rich with electron fractions Y_e \lesssim 0.1–0.4, making it conducive to heavy-element production. In contrast, the disk wind ejecta originates from thermally driven outflows from the post-merger accretion disk, with masses ranging from 10^{-3} to 0.1 M_\sun and slower velocities of 0.03–0.1c; these winds are moderately neutron-rich (Y_e \approx 0.2–0.4) and more isotropic. The total ejecta mass across both components is generally 0.01–0.1 M_\sun, with the exact partitioning depending on the binary masses, equation of state, and impact parameter.^[4] In the neutron-rich environment of the ejecta (Y_e < 0.5), rapid neutron capture, or r-process nucleosynthesis, occurs as free neutrons are captured onto seed nuclei—primarily iron-group elements formed via earlier alpha captures—building up heavy isotopes in seconds to minutes during decompression. This is followed by a series of beta decays that adjust the proton-to-neutron ratio, stabilizing the nuclei and releasing energy over longer timescales. The process robustly produces third-peak r-process elements (A > 240, such as uranium-238) and second-peak lanthanides (A \approx 140–180, including europium and gadolinium), as well as third-r-process-peak gold (A = 197), with yields sensitive to the ejecta entropy, expansion timescale, and nuclear mass models. Simulations confirm that neutron star mergers are primary sites for this nucleosynthesis, contributing significantly to galactic abundances of these elements.^[4]^[18] The radioactive decay of freshly synthesized r-process nuclei powers the kilonova emission through heating of the ejecta. Each beta decay and subsequent gamma emission releases approximately Q \approx 10 MeV per nucleon, with the energy input driving thermalization and re-radiation as optical/near-infrared light. The bolometric luminosity follows an approximate form L(t) \approx M_\mathrm{ej} \langle y \rangle Q / t, where M_\mathrm{ej} is the ejecta mass, \langle y \rangle is the mass-weighted average electron fraction influencing the decay pathways and heating efficiency, and t is time since merger; more detailed models yield L(t) \propto t^{-1.3} with a specific heating rate of \sim 2 \times 10^{10} , \mathrm{erg , s^{-1} , g^{-1}} (t/1 , \mathrm{day})^{-1.3}. This heating peaks early and declines as shorter-lived isotopes decay first, providing the energy budget for the transient's evolution over days to weeks.^[4]^[19] Following expulsion, the ejecta undergoes homologous expansion, where velocity is proportional to radius (v \propto r), leading to a stratified structure with faster outer layers and slower inner material. This expansion, at characteristic velocities of 0.1–0.3c, causes the photosphere—defined at optical depth \tau = 2/3—to recede inward over time, shifting the effective temperature and spectral energy distribution. Opacity plays a critical role in observability, dominated by bound-bound transitions in r-process ions; lanthanide-free ejecta (Y_e > 0.25) has low opacity \kappa \approx 0.5–1 , \mathrm{cm^2 , g^{-1}}, enabling prompt blue emission, while lanthanide-rich material (Y_e < 0.25) exhibits high opacity \kappa \approx 10–100 , \mathrm{cm^2 , g^{-1}} due to complex line blanketing, resulting in redder, more obscured light curves.^[4]^[20]

Observations

Historical Context

The theoretical foundation for kilonovae emerged in 1998 when Li and Paczyński proposed that mergers of neutron stars could produce luminous optical transients powered by the radioactive decay of heavy elements synthesized via the rapid neutron capture process (r-process) in the ejected material. They estimated these events could reach peak luminosities comparable to classical novae but with faster evolution, making them detectable even at cosmological distances through ongoing supernova surveys. Building on this idea, Metzger et al. in 2010 developed comprehensive models incorporating detailed nucleosynthesis and radiative transfer, coining the term "kilonova" to reflect the events' luminosities—roughly a thousand times brighter than typical novae. Their calculations predicted that the ejecta would appear red and relatively faint in optical bands due to high opacity from lanthanide elements, rendering detection challenging without near-infrared observations and complicating early searches.^[19] Prior to gravitational wave detections, efforts to observe kilonovae relied on rapid optical and near-infrared follow-up of short gamma-ray bursts, which were hypothesized to originate from compact object mergers. A prominent candidate emerged in 2013 with GRB 130603B, where Hubble Space Telescope observations revealed a near-infrared excess fading over days, consistent with a kilonova at a redshift of z ≈ 0.356; however, the event's distance and the ejecta's opacity limited spectroscopic confirmation and detailed characterization.^[21] The prospect of multi-messenger astronomy, particularly with advanced gravitational wave detectors like LIGO expected to provide precise sky localizations for neutron star mergers, was anticipated to enable more effective targeted searches for these transients, overcoming prior limitations in burst association and localization accuracy.^[22]

Key Events

The binary neutron star merger event GW170817 was detected by the LIGO and Virgo observatories on August 17, 2017, at 12:41:04 UTC, marking the first gravitational wave signal from such a source. Approximately 11 hours later, an optical transient, designated AT2017gfo (also known as SSS17a or DLT17ck), was identified as its electromagnetic counterpart through targeted searches by multiple teams, including the 1M2H collaboration using the Dark Energy Camera on the Blanco 4m telescope.^[23] Multi-wavelength follow-up observations of AT2017gfo revealed a rapidly evolving transient in the nearby galaxy NGC 4993, at a distance of approximately 40 Mpc, confirming it as the host.^[24] Early optical and ultraviolet spectra showed a blue continuum peaking around 1 day post-merger, attributed to lanthanide-poor ejecta with a mass of about 0.03 M_⊙ expanding at velocities near 0.3c, while later near-infrared emission indicated a redder component from lanthanide-rich material with a mass of roughly 0.04 M_⊙. The light curve reached a peak absolute magnitude of approximately -16 in the r-band, with Hubble Space Telescope imaging providing high-resolution optical and near-infrared data that resolved the source's evolution, Spitzer Space Telescope observations capturing the mid-infrared tail indicative of heavy element decay, and Chandra X-ray Observatory detections revealing faint afterglow emission consistent with synchrotron radiation from the merger remnant.^[23]^[25] These observations provided the first direct spectroscopic evidence of rapid neutron capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis in AT2017gfo, with the detection of strontium absorption lines in spectra obtained by the Very Large Telescope, confirming the production of heavy elements beyond iron in neutron star mergers.^[26] Additionally, a short gamma-ray burst, GRB 170817A, was detected by Fermi and INTEGRAL 1.7 seconds after the gravitational wave signal, but its weak flux was explained by an off-axis viewing angle of about 20-30 degrees relative to the structured jet, as modeled from the subsequent radio and X-ray afterglow.^[27]

Recent Developments

Following the landmark GW170817 event, extensive follow-up campaigns targeting short gamma-ray bursts and gravitational wave triggers have yielded several kilonova candidates. These detections, while not all confirmed as kilonovae, underscore the growing sample of ambiguous events informing merger models. Additionally, late-time follow-ups of GRB 170817A have constrained remnant properties, with faint afterglow still detectable seven years post-merger (as of 2024) and no significant new emission component, supporting models of compact ejecta.^[28] In 2023, simulations from the GSI Helmholtz Centre introduced a spherical kilonova model, derived from 3D hydrodynamical calculations of neutron star merger ejecta, which better matches observed symmetric light curves in candidate events by assuming isotropic expansion without strong lanthanide stratification.^[29] This framework ties directly to observational data from post-merger transients, predicting more uniform brightness profiles than asymmetric jet-dominated scenarios. In the same year, JWST observations of the long-duration gamma-ray burst GRB 230307A identified a kilonova counterpart at redshift z ≈ 0.07, with spectra revealing tellurium emission lines and evidence of lanthanide presence, providing the first direct detection of a heavy r-process element from such an event and confirming neutron star merger origins for some long GRBs.^[2] Recent years have seen notable candidates in 2024–2025, including ZTF25abjmnps (AT2025ulz), a bright, rapidly fading transient identified as a neutron star merger counterpart to the low-significance gravitational wave signal S250818k. Early optical and near-infrared observations showed blue, kilonova-like emission evolving to redder hues within days, consistent with r-process heating in dynamical ejecta.^[30] This event is interpreted as a superkilonova arising from a sub-solar mass neutron star formed via post-merger disk fragmentation, with ejecta masses estimated at ~0.05 M_⊙ from light curve modeling.^[30] Population studies have refined merger rates to approximately 10–100 Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}, based on gravitational wave catalogs and optical surveys, indicating a diverse class of events with varying viewing angles and progenitor masses.^[31] Light curve fits to recent candidates reveal ejecta mass diversity from 0.01 to 0.1 M_⊙, with 2025 analyses marginalizing over nuclear equation-of-state uncertainties to predict peak luminosities and color evolutions.^[32] Detection techniques have advanced significantly, with the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) enabling real-time wide-field searches for fast transients up to z ~ 0.1.^[33] The Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), starting in 2025, promises to increase kilonova detections by factors of 10–100 through deep, multi-band cadences optimized for rapid follow-up.^[34] Furthermore, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) holds potential for probing kilonova remnants via mid-infrared imaging of dust-enshrouded ejecta and heavy element signatures years after merger.^[28]

Astrophysical Implications

Element Synthesis

Kilonovae from binary neutron star mergers serve as crucial astrophysical sites for the rapid neutron-capture process (r-process), which synthesizes approximately half of the stable elements heavier than iron observed in the solar system abundances.^[35] These events produce heavy r-process nuclei through neutron-rich ejecta, contributing significantly to the cosmic inventory of elements with atomic numbers Z > 56.^[36] Per merger, the r-process yields range from about 0.01 to 0.05 M_\odot of heavy elements (Z > 56), with notable production of isotopes such as ^{151}Eu, ^{138}Ba, and ^{197}Au, which are hallmarks of neutron-rich nucleosynthesis.^[37]^[38] This output arises primarily from dynamically ejected material during the merger, where neutron capture rapidly builds up mass-A > 130 nuclei before beta-decays stabilize them.^[39] In the cosmic budget, neutron star mergers dominate the production of heavy r-process elements, accounting for roughly half of the solar r-process abundances, while core-collapse supernovae contribute minimally to elements beyond the first r-process peak due to insufficient neutron flux.^[36]^[35] Galactic chemical evolution models incorporating merger rates of 10–100 Gyr^{-1} per Milky Way equivalent galaxy demonstrate that these events can reproduce observed stellar abundance patterns for r-process tracers like europium.^[40]^[41] Observational confirmation comes from the kilonova AT 2017gfo associated with GW170817, whose early spectra revealed spectral features of singly ionized strontium (Sr II), indicating r-process production of this light heavy element in the blue component of the ejecta.^[42] These models further integrate kilonova rates derived from gravitational-wave detections to match the scatter and trends in [Eu/Fe] ratios across metal-poor stars.^[40] Uncertainties in yields stem from the neutron richness of the ejecta, parameterized by the electron fraction Y_e \approx 0.1–0.4, which governs the endpoint of neutron captures and thus the mass distribution across r-process peaks.^[43] Three-dimensional general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations reveal variability in Y_e distributions due to neutrino interactions and angular dependence of ejection, leading to event-to-event differences in heavy-element production by factors of 2–5.^[44]

Broader Significance

Kilonovae, arising from binary neutron star mergers, provide critical tests of extreme physics by constraining the equation of state (EOS) of neutron star matter through gravitational wave measurements like those from GW170817. The component masses inferred from this event, restricted to spins typical of binary neutron stars, range from 1.17 to 1.60 solar masses, enabling probes of the dense nuclear matter in neutron star interiors that traditional nuclear physics experiments cannot access.^[45] These tidal deformability measurements from the gravitational waveform exclude stiff EOS models and favor those allowing radii of about 12 km for a 1.4 solar mass neutron star, significantly narrowing the parameter space for high-density matter behavior. Such constraints from multi-messenger observations refine our understanding of quantum chromodynamics under extreme conditions, with implications for the stability and maximum mass of neutron stars.^[46] Beyond nuclear physics, kilonovae serve as standard sirens in cosmology, offering independent measurements of the Hubble constant via the luminosity distance from gravitational waves combined with the redshift of the host galaxy. For GW170817, this yielded a value of approximately 70 km/s/Mpc, consistent with cosmic microwave background inferences around 67 km/s/Mpc while bridging tensions with local measurements near 73 km/s/Mpc.^[47] This approach avoids reliance on the cosmic distance ladder, providing a model-independent probe that reduces systematic uncertainties in the expansion rate of the universe.^[48] Future kilonovae detections could further tighten these estimates, potentially resolving the Hubble tension and informing dark energy models. The detection of kilonovae exemplifies multi-messenger astronomy, where gravitational waves and electromagnetic signals synergize to enhance source localization and characterization. The joint GW170817 observations, with electromagnetic follow-up pinpointing the event within 28 square degrees, demonstrated how rapid sky localization enables detailed studies of merger dynamics and ejecta. Looking ahead, synergies with future detectors like the space-based LISA for lower-frequency signals and the ground-based Einstein Telescope (ET) for higher sensitivity promise even better localization—down to arcminute scales—for off-axis or distant mergers, facilitating comprehensive multi-wavelength campaigns.^[49] Despite these advances, open questions persist regarding kilonova remnants and their diversity, which challenge theoretical models of post-merger evolution. Recent 2025 studies indicate promising detection prospects for kilonova remnants via radio surveys, with expectations of tens of such synchrotron sources identifiable in ongoing facilities like the Square Kilometre Array precursors, offering insights into long-term ejecta interactions.^[50] Observed variations in kilonova light curves and spectra across events reveal a diversity in ejecta properties and central engine activity—such as magnetar-driven cases—that standard merger simulations struggle to fully reproduce, prompting refinements in nucleosynthesis and radiative transfer models.^[51] This kilonova role in heavy element production, while central to galactic chemical evolution, underscores broader tests of merger physics.

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[28]
Features and prospects for kilonova remnant detection with current ...
In the case of GW170817, the KN afterglow has not yet been observed even 7 years after the merger (e.g. Hajela et al. 2019; Balasubramanian et al. 2022). Since ...
[29]
https://www.gsi.de/en/start/news/details?tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5534&cHash=f2e09bfd29f29ff3300be5e72be86e38
[30]
https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.23732
[31]
Long-duration Gamma-Ray Burst and Associated Kilonova Emission ...
Aug 29, 2022 · The rate densities for BNSs inferred using GWs through GWTC-2 (GWTC-3) are ${320}_{-240}^{+490}\, (10–1700 Gpc−3 yr−1) (e.g., Abbott et al.
[32]
Kilonova Light Curve Predictions via Equation of State Marginalization
Mar 24, 2025 · We present new kilonova light curve and ejecta mass data products derived from merger quantities measured in low latency, by marginalizing over our uncertainty.
[33]
Kilonova Detectability with Wide-field Instruments - IOPscience
Mar 11, 2022 · In this study, we quantify the ability of 13 wide-field-of-view instruments to detect kilonovae, leveraging a large grid of over 900 radiative ...
[34]
[2502.14124] The Effect of Vera C. Rubin Observatory Cadence ...
Feb 19, 2025 · In this work, we explore the possibility of optimizing Rubin Observatory's ability to detect kilonovae by implementing a fast transient metric.
[35]
r-Process in Neutron Star Mergers - IOP Science
We have shown that NSM ejecta are a promising source of solar r-process abundances for A > 130. However, this conclusion depends on two questions that require ...
[36]
Neutron star mergers as the dominant contributor to the production ...
1989; Narayan, Paczynski & Piran 1992) and kilonovae powered by the radioactive decay of freshly synthesized r-process nuclei (Li & Paczyński 1998; Metzger et ...
[37]
Light curves of the neutron star merger GW170817/SSS17a - Science
Oct 16, 2017 · When the gravitational wave event GW170817 was detected, astronomers ... radiated energy over 18 days is ~1.7 × 1047 erg. Between 0.5 ...
[38]
[1710.05875] The Origin of r-Process Elements in the Milky Way - arXiv
Oct 16, 2017 · r-process elements like gold and europium are formed by rapid neutron capture. Neutron-star mergers are likely the main source, based on the GW ...Missing: isotopes barium
[39]
R-Process Nucleosynthesis in Dynamically Ejected Matter of ... - arXiv
Jul 5, 2011 · Here we study r-process nucleosynthesis in material that is dynamically ejected by tidal and pressure forces during the merging of binary neutron stars (NSs)
[40]
Total r-process Yields of Milky Way Neutron Star Mergers - arXiv
Oct 5, 2023 · Furthermore, the expected elemental yield for DNSs may depend on the merger parameters themselves -- such as their stellar masses and radii -- ...Missing: 0.01-0.05 | Show results with:0.01-0.05
[41]
Galactic r-process enrichment by neutron star mergers in ...
We show that NS mergers can produce [r-process/Fe] abundance ratios and scatter that appear reasonably consistent with observational constraints. At low ...
[42]
Identification of strontium in the merger of two neutron stars - arXiv
Oct 23, 2019 · This paper identifies strontium in a neutron star merger, establishing that neutron star mergers are a source of r-process elements and that ...
[43]
[1509.07628] Nucleosynthesis in the Ejecta of Neutron Star Mergers
Sep 25, 2015 · We find that the electron fraction varies around Y_e \approx 0.1 - 0.4, but its distribution differs for every angle of ejection. Hence, the ...
[44]
[2112.00772] $r$-process Nucleosynthesis and Kilonovae from ...
Dec 1, 2021 · We investigate r-process nucleosynthesis and kilonova emission resulting from binary neutron star (BNS) mergers based on a three-dimensional (3D) general- ...
[45]
Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral
Oct 16, 2017 · Restricting the component spins to the range inferred in binary neutron stars, we find the component masses to be in the range 1.17 to 1.60 M_\ ...
[46]
Constraints on the Neutron Star Equation of State from GW170817
Apr 22, 2019 · In this topical review, I discuss the various constraints that have been made on the EOS in the year following the discovery of GW170817.
[47]
A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble ...
Oct 16, 2017 · These multi-messenger observations allow us to use GW170817 as a standard siren, the gravitational-wave analog of an astronomical standard candle, to measure ...
[48]
A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble ...
Oct 16, 2017 · We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements, while ...
[49]
[2103.16371] Equation of state constraints from multi-messenger ...
Mar 30, 2021 · We describe how multi-messenger observations of GW170817 are employed to constrain the nuclear equation of state.
[50]
[2409.11291] Features and prospects for kilonova remnant detection ...
Abstract page for arXiv paper 2409.11291: Features and prospects for kilonova remnant detection with current and future surveys.
[51]
On the diversity of magnetar-driven kilonovae - Oxford Academic
Here, we extend existing models for magnetar-driven kilonovae and explore the diversity of kilonovae and kilonova afterglows.