Multimessenger Astronomy and Astrophysics Synergies

Abstract

A budget neutral strategy is proposed for NSF to lead the implementation of multimessenger astronomy and astrophysics, as outlined in the Astro2010 Decadal Survey. The emerging capabilities for simultaneous measurements of physical and astronomical data through the different windows of electromagnetic, hadronic and gravitational radiation processes call for a vigorous pursuit of new synergies. The proposed approach is aimed at the formation of new collaborations and multimessenger data-analysis, to transcend the scientific inquiries made within a single window of observations. In view of budgetary constraints, we propose to include the multimessenger dimension in the ranking of proposals submitted under existing NSF programs.