arXiv subjects

Przemek Mroz

Publications and source records attributed to Przemek Mroz.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

A systematic search of Zwicky Transient Facility data for ultracompact binary LISA-detectable gravitational-wave sources

Using photometry collected with the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), we are conducting an ongoing survey for binary systems with short orbital periods ($P_{\rm b}<1\rm \,hr)$ with the goal of identifying new gravitational-wave sources detectable by the upcoming Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). Here, we present a sample of fifteen binary systems discovered thus far, with orbital periods ranging from $6.91\rm\,min$ to $56.35\rm\,min$. Of the fifteen systems, seven are eclipsing systems which do not show signs of significant mass transfer. Additionally, we have discovered two AM Canum Venaticorum (AM CVn) systems and six systems exhibiting primarily ellipsoidal variations in their light curves. We present follow-up spectroscopy and high-speed photometry confirming the nature of these systems, estimates of their LISA signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), and a discussion of their physical characteristics.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2020

Identifying microlensing events using neural networks

Current gravitational microlensing surveys are observing hundreds of millions of stars in the Galactic bulge - which makes finding rare microlensing events a challenging tasks. In almost all previous works, microlensing events have been detected either by applying very strict selection cuts or manually inspecting tens of thousands of light curves. However, the number of microlensing events expected in the future space-based microlensing experiments forces us to consider fully-automated approaches. They are especially important for selecting binary-lens events that often exhibit complex light curve morphologies and are otherwise difficult to find. There are no dedicated selection algorithms for binary-lens events in the literature, which hampers their statistical studies. Here, we present two simple neural-network-based classifiers for detecting single and binary microlensing events. We demonstrate their robustness using OGLE-III and OGLE-IV data sets and show they perform well on microlensing events detected in data from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). Classifiers are able to correctly recognize ~98% of single-lens events and 80-85% of binary-lens events.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2020

Kilonova Luminosity Function Constraints based on Zwicky Transient Facility Searches for 13 Neutron Star Mergers

We present a systematic search for optical counterparts to 13 gravitational wave (GW) triggers involving at least one neutron star during LIGO/Virgo's third observing run. We searched binary neutron star (BNS) and neutron star black hole (NSBH) merger localizations with the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and undertook follow-up with the Global Relay of Observatories Watching Transients Happen (GROWTH) collaboration. The GW triggers had a median localization of 4480 deg^2, median distance of 267 Mpc and false alarm rates ranging from 1.5 to 1e-25 per yr. The ZTF coverage had a median enclosed probability of 39%, median depth of 20.8mag, and median response time of 1.5 hr. The O3 follow-up by the GROWTH team comprised 340 UVOIR photometric points, 64 OIR spectra, and 3 radio. We find no promising kilonova (radioactivity-powered counterpart) and we convert the upper limits to constrain the underlying kilonova luminosity function. Assuming that all kilonovae are at least as luminous as GW170817 at discovery (-16.1mag), we calculate our joint probability of detecting zero kilonovae is only 4.2%. If we assume that all kilonovae are brighter than -16.6mag (extrapolated peak magnitude of GW170817) and fade at 1 mag/day (similar to GW170817), the joint probability of zero detections is 7%. If we separate the NSBH and BNS populations, the joint probability of zero detections, assuming all kilonovae are brighter than -16.6mag, is 9.7% for NSBH and 7.9% for BNS mergers. Moreover, <57% (<89%) of putative kilonovae could be brighter than -16.6mag assuming flat (fading) evolution, at 90% confidence. If we further account for the online terrestrial probability for each GW trigger, we find that <68% of putative kilonovae could be brighter than -16.6mag. Comparing to model grids, we find that some kilonovae must have Mej < 0.03 Msun or Xlan>1e-4 or phi>30deg to be consistent with our limits. (Abridged)

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Microlensing optical depth and event rate in the OGLE-IV Galactic plane fields

Searches for gravitational microlensing events are traditionally concentrated on the central regions of the Galactic bulge but many microlensing events are expected to occur in the Galactic plane, far from the Galactic Center. Owing to the difficulty in conducting high-cadence observations of the Galactic plane over its vast area, which are necessary for the detection of microlensing events, their global properties were hitherto unknown. Here, we present results of the first comprehensive search for microlensing events in the Galactic plane. We searched an area of almost 3000 square degrees along the Galactic plane (|b|<7, 0<l<50, 190<l<360 deg) observed by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) during 2013-2019 and detected 630 events. We demonstrate that the mean Einstein timescales of Galactic plane microlensing events are on average three times longer than those of Galactic bulge events, with little dependence on the Galactic longitude. We also measure the microlensing optical depth and event rate as a function of Galactic longitude and demonstrate that they exponentially decrease with the angular distance from the Galactic Center (with the characteristic angular scale length of 32 deg). The average optical depth decreases from $0.5\times 10^{-6}$ at l=10 deg to $1.5\times 10^{-8}$ in the Galactic anticenter. We also find that the optical depth in the longitude range 240<l<330 deg is asymmetric about the Galactic equator, which we interpret as a signature of the Galactic warp.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2020

A Gas Giant Planet in the OGLE-2006-BLG-284L Stellar Binary System

We present the analysis of microlensing event OGLE-2006-BLG-284, which has a lens system that consists of two stars and a gas giant planet with a mass ratio of $q_p = (1.26\pm 0.19) \times 10^{-3}$ to the primary. The mass ratio of the two stars is $q_s = 0.289\pm 0.011$, and their projected separation is $s_s = 2.1\pm 0.7\,$AU, while the projected separation of the planet from the primary is $s_p = 2.2\pm 0.8\,$AU. For this lens system to have stable orbits, the three-dimensional separation of either the primary and secondary stars or the planet and primary star must be much larger than that these projected separations. Since we do not know which is the case, the system could include either a circumbinary or a circumstellar planet. Because there is no measurement of the microlensing parallax effect or lens system brightness, we can only make a rough Bayesian estimate of the lens system masses and brightness. We find host star and planet masses of $M_{L1} = 0.35^{+0.30}_{-0.20}\,M_\odot$, $M_{L2} = 0.10^{+0.09}_{-0.06}\,M_\odot$, and $m_p = 144^{+126}_{-82}\,M_\oplus$, and the $K$-band magnitude of the combined brightness of the host stars is $K_L = 19.7^{+0.7}_{-1.0}$. The separation between the lens and source system will be $\sim 90\,$mas in mid-2020, so it should be possible to detect the host system with follow-up adaptive optics or Hubble Space Telescope observations.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2019

OGLE-2018-BLG-0532Lb: Cold Neptune With Possible Jovian Sibling

We report the discovery of the planet OGLE-2018-BLG-0532Lb, with very obvious signatures in the light curve that lead to an estimate of the planet-host mass ratio $q=M_{\rm planet}/M_{\rm host}\simeq 1\times10^{-4}$. Although there are no obvious systematic residuals to this double-lens/single-source (2L1S) fit, we find that $χ^2$ can be significantly improved by adding either a third lens (3L1S, $Δχ^2=81$) or second source (2L2S, $Δχ^2=65$) to the lens-source geometry. After thorough investigation, we conclude that we cannot decisively distinguish between these two scenarios and therefore focus on the robustly-detected planet. However, given the possible presence of a second planet, we investigate to what degree and with what probability such additional planets may affect seemingly single-planet light curves. Our best estimates for the properties of the lens star and the secure planet are: a host mass $M\sim 0.25\,M_\odot$, system distance $D_L\sim 1\,$kpc and planet mass $m_{p,1}= 8\,M_\oplus$ with projected separation $a_{1,\perp}=1.4\,$au. However, there is a relatively bright $I=18.6$ (and also relatively blue) star projected within $<50\,$mas of the lens, and if future high-resolution images show that this is coincident with the lens, then it is possible that it is the lens, in which case, the lens would be both more massive and more distant than the best-estimated values above.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2018

New Self-lensing Models of the Small Magellanic Cloud: Can Gravitational Microlensing Detect Extragalactic Exoplanets?

We use three-dimensional distributions of classical Cepheids and RR~Lyrae stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) to model the stellar density distribution of a young and old stellar population in that galaxy. We use these models to estimate the microlensing self-lensing optical depth to the SMC, which is in excellent agreement with the observations. Our models are consistent with the total stellar mass of the SMC of about 1.0 x 10^9 MSun under the assumption that all microlensing events toward this galaxy are caused by self-lensing. We also calculate the expected event rates and estimate that future large-scale surveys, like the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), will be able to detect up to a few dozen microlensing events in the SMC annually. If the planet frequency in the SMC is similar to that in the Milky Way, a few extragalactic planets can be detected over the course of the LSST survey, provided significant changes in the SMC observing strategy are devised. A relatively small investment of LSST resources can give us a unique probe of the population of extragalactic exoplanets.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2018

A Neptune-mass Free-floating Planet Candidate Discovered by Microlensing Surveys

Current microlensing surveys are sensitive to free-floating planets down to Earth-mass objects. All published microlensing events attributed to unbound planets were identified based on their short timescale (below two days), but lacked an angular Einstein radius measurement (and hence lacked a significant constraint on the lens mass). Here, we present the discovery of a Neptune-mass free-floating planet candidate in the ultrashort ($t_{\rm E}=0.320\pm0.003$ days) microlensing event OGLE-2016-BLG-1540. The event exhibited strong finite-source effects, which allowed us to measure its angular Einstein radius of $θ_{\rm E}=9.2\pm0.5\,μ$as. There remains, however, a degeneracy between the lens mass and distance. The combination of the source proper motion and source-lens relative proper motion measurements favors a Neptune-mass lens located in the Galactic disk. However, we cannot rule out that the lens is a Saturn-mass object belonging to the bulge population. We exclude stellar companions up to 15 au.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2017

OGLE-2013-BLG-0132Lb and OGLE-2013-BLG-1721Lb: Two Saturn-mass Planets Discovered around M-dwarfs

We present the discovery of two planetary systems consisting of a Saturn-mass planet orbiting an M-dwarf, which were detected in faint microlensing events OGLE-2013-BLG-0132 and OGLE-2013-BLG-1721. The planetary anomalies were covered with high cadence by OGLE and MOA photometric surveys. The light curve modeling indicates that the planet-to-host mass ratios are $(5.15 \pm 0.28)\times 10^{-4}$ and $(13.18 \pm 0.72)\times 10^{-4}$, respectively. Both events were too short and too faint to measure a reliable parallax signal and hence the lens mass. We therefore used a Bayesian analysis to estimate the masses of both planets: $0.29^{+0.16}_{-0.13}\ M_{Jup}$ (OGLE-2013-BLG-0132Lb) and $0.64^{+0.35}_{-0.31}\ M_{Jup}$ (OGLE-2013-BLG-1721Lb). Thanks to a high relative proper motion, OGLE-2013-BLG-0132 is a promising candidate for the high-resolution imaging follow-up. Both planets belong to an increasing sample of sub-Jupiter-mass planets orbiting M-dwarfs beyond the snow line.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2017

No large population of unbound or wide-orbit Jupiter-mass planets

Gravitational microlensing is the only method capable of exploring the entire population of free-floating planets down to Mars-mass objects, because the microlensing signal does not depend on the brightness of the lensing object. A characteristic timescale of microlensing events depends on the mass of the lens: the less massive the lens, the shorter the microlensing event. A previous analysis of 474 microlensing events found an excess of very short events (1-2 days) - more than known stellar populations would suggest - indicating the existence of a large population of unbound or wide-orbit Jupiter-mass planets (reported to be almost twice as common as main-sequence stars). These results, however, do not match predictions of planet formation theories and are in conflict with surveys of young clusters. Here we report the analysis of a six times larger sample of microlensing events discovered during the years 2010-2015. Although our survey has very high sensitivity (detection efficiency) to short-timescale (1--2 days) microlensing events, we found no excess of events with timescales in this range, with a 95% upper limit on the frequency of Jupiter-mass free-floating or wide-orbit planets of 0.25 planet per main-sequence star. We detected a few possible ultrashort-timescale events (with timescales of less than 0.5 day), which may indicate the existence of Earth- and super-Earth-mass free-floating planets, as predicted by planet-formation theories. [abridged]

astro-ph.EP↗