Gravitational wave (GW) events detectable by LIGO and Virgo have several possible progenitors, including black hole mergers, neutron star mergers, black hole–neutron star mergers, supernovae, and cosmic string cusps. A subset of GW events is expected to produce electromagnetic (EM) emission that, once detected, will provide complementary information about their astrophysical context. To that end, the LIGO–Virgo Collaboration (LVC) sends GW candidate alerts to the astronomical community so that searches for their EM counterparts can be pursued. The DESGW group, consisting of members of the Dark Energy Survey (DES), the LVC, and other members of the astronomical community, uses the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) to perform a search and discovery program for optical signatures of LVC GW events. DESGW aims to use a sample of GW events as standard sirens for cosmology. Due to the short decay timescale of the expected EM counterparts and the need to quickly eliminate survey areas with no counterpart candidates, it is critical to complete the initial analysis of each night’s images as quickly as possible. We discuss our search area determination, imaging pipeline, and candidate selection processes. We review results from the DESGW program during the first two LIGO–Virgo observing campaigns and introduce other science applications that our pipeline enables.

LIGO和处女座可检测到的引力波（GW）事件有几种可能的起源，包括黑洞合并，中子星合并，黑洞-中子星合并，超新星和宇宙弦尖。GW事件的子集预计会产生电磁（EM）发射，一旦检测到，它将提供有关其天体物理环境的补充信息。为此，LIGO-处女座合作组织（LVC）向天文界发送了GW候选警报，以便可以进行与EM同行的搜索。由暗能量调查（DES）成员，LVC成员和天文界其他成员组成的DESGW组使用暗能量摄像机（DECam）来执行LVC GW事件光学特征的搜索和发现程序。DESGW的目的是将GW事件的样本用作宇宙学的标准警报器。由于预期的EM对应对象的衰减时间尺度较短，并且需要快速消除没有对应候选对象的调查区域，因此至关重要的是，尽快完成每个夜晚图像的初始分析。我们讨论了搜索区域确定，成像管道和候选者选择过程。我们在前两次LIGO-Virgo观测活动中审查了DESGW计划的结果，并介绍了我们的管道支持的其他科学应用程序。我们讨论了搜索区域确定，成像管道和候选者选择过程。我们在前两个LIGO-Virgo观测活动中回顾了DESGW计划的结果，并介绍了我们的管道支持的其他科学应用程序。我们讨论了搜索区域确定，成像管道和候选者选择过程。我们在前两次LIGO-Virgo观测活动中审查了DESGW计划的结果，并介绍了我们的管道支持的其他科学应用程序。