Studying the multi-wavelength signals from short GRBs

Abstract

Since the first host galaxies and afterglows of short GRBs were identified, they have remained very difficult to study: their multiwavelenth afterglows are notoriously faint and host galaxy identification often relies upon minimalising a chance alignment probability. Despite these observational challenges, there is now a sufficiently large sample to constrain the properties of the wider population and, in this review talk, I will summarise the current multi-wavelength observations of short GRBs. Additionally, I will describe how these observed data are able to both support and challenge the standard theoretical models of the progenitors and central engines. Looking towards the future, due to technological and theoretical advances, we are about to enter an exciting era for the study of short GRBs. We will be able to search for predicted counterparts in wide-field multi-wavelength transient searches and have the tantalising prospect of finding the very first ``smoking gun'' signal from the progenitor via the detection of gravitational waves.