High-Redshift and Exotic Transients In the Roman HLTDS
| Program ID | 19081 |
|---|---|
| Science Category | Stellar Physics |
| Program Type | Analysis |
| Category | Small |
| Principal Investigator | Sebastian Gomez |
| PI Institution | The University of Texas at Austin |
| Co-Investigators |
|
| Abstract | The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey (HLTDS) will provide an unprecedented opportunity to address two critical frontiers in astrophysics: the impact of massive stars in the early Universe and the origins and growth processes of supermassive black holes (SMBHs). This proposal leverages the HLTDS, and critically its extended component, to discover and characterize two classes of luminous long-duration transients: superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) and tidal disruption events (TDEs). SLSNe represent the deaths of the most massive stars, and as such they are visible to great distances, allowing us to probe the early Universe, trace the high-end of the initial mass function, and provide an independent probe of the star formation rate density as a function of redshift. Concurrently, TDEs, the events that result from SMBHs disrupting stars, provide an independent method to measure the masses of these SMBHs across cosmic time. This sample can then be used to distinguish between different black hole seeding mechanisms. To identify SLSNe and TDEs within the HLTDS, we propose to run a proven machine-learning classification pipeline on all transient sources. We will produce real-time probabilities to prioritize high-value targets for immediate ground-based and space-based follow-up. By the end of Cycle 2 we will also deliver a probabilistically weighted catalog of all SLSNe and TDEs to recover fainter populations that would otherwise might be discarded. Because these highly luminous transients evolve over several years in the observer frame, it is critical to do this analysis during Cycle 1 to capture their critical rising phases and fully realize the discovery potential of the HLTDS. |