Science

The main goal of Daksha is to study explosive transients across the universe, boosting multi-messenger and gravitational wave astrophysics in India and across the world. So far, only a single electromagnetic counterpart has been discovered for a gravitational wave source – and this single discovery has led to more than a thousand refereed publications. Daksha will revolutionise this field by finding dozens of High Energy Counterparts to Gravitational Wave Sources. In addition, Daksha will provide unprecedented insights into the study of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) by discovering the largest number of high-redshift bursts as well as providing the best polarisation measurements and high temporal resolution studies of bright GRBs and other transients. Daksha’s multi-faceted science case spans a wide range of fields!

Key science areas:

Publications

Daksha: On Alert for High Energy Transients (arXiv:2211.12055)

  • Detailed description of the mission capabilities

  • Sensitivity comparisons with other missions

  • Under review in ApJ

Science with the Daksha High Energy Transients Mission (arXiv:2211.12052)

  • Discussion of all science cases

  • Detailed discussion of scientific impact

  • Under review in ApJ

Discovery Potential

Over a five year mission, Daksha will:

  • Discover the highest number of counterparts to gravitational wave sources

  • Discover more GRBs per year than all other missions combined

  • Obtain unparalleled GRB polarisation measurements

  • Probe cosmology with primordial black holes studies and high-redshift GRBs