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Abstract

With the increasing sensitivity of advanced gravitational wave detectors, the
first joint detection of an electromagnetic and gravitational wave signal from
a compact binary merger will hopefully happen within this decade. However,
current gravitational-wave likelihood sky areas span $\sim
100-1000\,\textrm{deg}^2$, and thus it is a challenging task to identify which,
if any, transient corresponds to the gravitational-wave event. In this study,
we make a comparison between recent kilonovae/macronovae lightcurve models for
the purpose of assessing potential lightcurve templates for counterpart
identification. We show that recent analytical and parametrized models for
these counterparts result in qualitative agreement with more complicated
radiative transfer simulations. Our analysis suggests that with improved
lightcurve models with smaller uncertainties, it will become possible to
extract information about ejecta properties and binary parameters directly from
the lightcurve measurement. Even tighter constraints are obtained in cases for
which gravitational-wave and kilonovae parameter estimation results are
combined. However, to be prepared for upcoming detections, more realistic
kilonovae models are needed. These will require numerical relativity with more
detailed microphysics, better radiative transfer simulations, and a better
understanding of the underlying nuclear physics.