Observations with interferometric gravitational-wave detectors result in probability sky maps that are multimodal and spread over 10-100 deg^2. We present a scheme for maximizing the probability of imaging optical counterparts to gravitational-wave transients given limited observing resources. Our framework is capable of coordinating many telescopes with different fields of view and limiting magnitudes. We present a case study comparing three different planning algorithms. We find that, with the network of telescopes that was used in the most recent joint LIGO-Virgo science run, a relatively straightforward coordinated approach doubles the detection efficiency relative to each telescope observing independently.
@article{arxiv.1204.4510,
title = {Optimizing optical follow-up of gravitational-wave candidates},
author = {Leo Singer and Larry Price and Antony Speranza},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1204.4510},
year = {2012}
}