Gravitational waves and electromagnetic transients

The advanced gravitational wave (GW) detector network has started routine detection of signals from merging compact binaries. Data indicate that in a fair fraction of these sources, at least one component was a neutron star, bringing with it the possibility of electromagnetic (EM) radiation. So far, a confirmed link between EM and GW radiation has been established for only one source, GW170817. Joint analysis of broadband multi-wavelength data and the GW signal have yielded rich information spanning fields as varied as jet physics, cosmology and nucleosynthesis. Here, we discuss the importance of such joint observations, as well as current and near-future efforts to discover and study more EM counterparts to GW sources.