An x-ray interferometer (XRI) has recently been proposed as a theme for ESA's voyage 2050 planning cycle, with the prospect to observe the x-ray sky with unprecedented angular resolution. A scientifically very interesting mission is possible on the basis of a single spacecraft with a resolving power of 100 micro arcsec (~0.5 nrad), owing to the compact 'telephoto' design proposed in 2004 by Willingale. One of the key challenges for such a mission is to acquire and maintain pointing to an absolute accuracy below that resolution. This challenge was already identified by Gendreau et al. in 2003. In this paper we re-address this issue in the light of recent technological developments.
We have proposed the development of X-ray interferometry as part of ESA’s Voyage 2050 programme, to reveal the universe at high energies with ultra-high spatial resolution. With only a 1 m baseline, which could be accommodated on a single spacecraft, X-ray interferometry can reach 100 μas resolution at 10 Å (1.24 keV) and exceed that of the Event Horizon Telescope at 2Å (6.2 keV). A multi-spacecraft ‘constellation’ interferometer would resolve well below 1 μas. Here we focus on the single-spacecraft interferometer design and discuss the process of fringe detection and image reconstruction from multiple baselines, showing simulated images of test cases from our Voyage 2050 White Paper. We also discuss the challenges and feasibility of reaching the technical requirements needed for a single-spacecraft interferometer. Most key requirements are already feasible or within easy reach. Besides a ground-based testbed, covered elsewhere in these proceedings, the most important areas for development include large format, small-pixel X-ray detectors and pointing which is stable or can be reconstructed to tens of µas precision.
An X-ray Interferometer (XRI) has recently been proposed as a theme for ESA's Voyage 2050 planning cycle, with the eventual goal to observe the X-ray sky with an unprecedented angular resolution better than 1 micro arcsec (5 prad) [1]. A scientifically very interesting mission is possible on the basis of a single spacecraft [2], owing to the compact 'telephoto' design proposed earlier by Willingale [3]. Between the practical demonstration of X-ray interferometry at 1 keV by Cash et al. [4] with a 1 mm baseline and 0.1 arcsec effective resolution to a mission flying an interferometer with a baseline of one or more meters, an effective collecting area of square meters and micro arcsec resolution lie many milestones. The first important steps to scale up from a laboratory experiment to a viable mission concept will have to be taken on a scalable and flexible testbed set-up. Such a testbed cannot singularly focus on the optical aspects, but should simultaneously address the thermal and mechanical stability of the interferometer. A particular challenge is the coherent X-ray source, which should provide a wavefront at the entrance of the interferometer that is transversely coherent over a distance at least equal to the baseline, and bright enough. In this paper, we will explore the build-up of a testbed in several stages, with increasing requirements on optical quality and associated thermo-mechanical control and source sophistication, with the intent to guide the technological development of X-ray interferometry from the lab to space in a sequence of achievable milestones.
S. N. Zhang, M. Feroci, A. Santangelo, Y. W. Dong, H. Feng, F. J. Lu, K. Nandra, Z. S. Wang, S. Zhang, E. Bozzo, S. Brandt, A. De Rosa, L. J. Gou, M. Hernanz, M. van der Klis, X. D. Li, Y. Liu, P. Orleanski, G. Pareschi, M. Pohl, J. Poutanen, J. L. Qu, S. Schanne, L. Stella, P. Uttley, A. Watts, R. Xu, W. F. Yu, J. J. M. in ’t Zand, S. Zane, L. Alvarez, L. Amati, L. Baldini, C. Bambi, S. Basso, S. Bhattacharyya, R. Bellazzini, T. Belloni, P. Bellutti, S. Bianchi, A. Brez, M. Bursa, V. Burwitz, C. Budtz-Jørgensen, I. Caiazzo, R. Campana, X. L. Cao, P. Casella, C. Y. Chen, L. Chen, T. Chen, Y. Chen, M. Civitani, F. Coti Zelati, W. Cui, Z. G. Dai, E. Del Monte, D. de Martino, S. Di Cosimo, S. Diebold, M. Dovciak, I. Donnarumma, V. Doroshenko, P. Esposito, Y. Evangelista, Y. Favre, P. Friedrich, F. Fuschino, J. Galvez, Z. Gao, M. Ge, O. Gevin, D. Goetz, D. Han, J. Heyl, J. Horak, W. Hu, F. Huang, Q. S. Huang, R. Hudec, D. Huppenkothen, G. L. Israel, A. Ingram, V. Karas, D. Karelin, P. Jenke, L. Ji, S. Korpela, D. Kunneriath, C. Labanti, G. Li, X. Li, Z. S. Li, E. W. Liang, O. Limousin, L. Lin, Z. X. Ling, H. B. Liu, H. Liu, Z. Liu, B. Lu, N. Lund, D. Lai, B. Luo, T. Luo, B. Ma, S. Mahmoodifar, M. Marisaldi, A. Martindale, N. Meidinger, Y. P. Men, M. Michalska, R. Mignani, M. Minuti, S. Motta, F. Muleri, J. Neilsen, M. Orlandini, A. T. Pan, A. Patruno, E. Perinati, A. Picciotto, C. Piemonte, M. Pinchera, A. Rachevski, M. Rapisarda, N. Rea, E. M. Rossi, A. Rubini, G. Sala, X. W. Shu, C. Sgro, Z. X. Shen, P. Soffitta, L. Song, G. Spandre, G. Stratta, T. Strohmayer, L. Sun, J. Svoboda, G. Tagliaferri, C. Tenzer, T. Hong, R. Taverna, G. Torok, R. Turolla, S. Vacchi, J. Wang, D. Walton, K. Wang, J. F. Wang, R. J. Wang, Y. Wang, S. Weng, J. Wilms, B. Winter, X. Wu, S. L. Xiong, Y. Xu, Y. Xue, Z. Yan, S. Yang, X. Yang, Y. J. Yang, F. Yuan, W. Yuan, Y. F. Yuan, G. Zampa, N. Zampa, A. Zdziarski, C. Zhang, C. L. Zhang, L. Zhang, X. Zhang, Z. Zhang, W. Zhang, S. Zheng, P. Zhou, X. Zhou
eXTP is a science mission designed to study the state of matter under extreme conditions of density, gravity and magnetism. Primary goals are the determination of the equation of state of matter at supra-nuclear density, the measurement of QED effects in highly magnetized star, and the study of accretion in the strong-field regime of gravity. Primary targets include isolated and binary neutron stars, strong magnetic field systems like magnetars, and stellar-mass and supermassive black holes. The mission carries a unique and unprecedented suite of state-of-the-art scientific instruments enabling for the first time ever the simultaneous spectral-timing-polarimetry studies of cosmic sources in the energy range from 0.5-30 keV (and beyond). Key elements of the payload are: the Spectroscopic Focusing Array (SFA) - a set of 11 X-ray optics for a total effective area of ∼0.9 m2 and 0.6 m2 at 2 keV and 6 keV respectively, equipped with Silicon Drift Detectors offering <180 eV spectral resolution; the Large Area Detector (LAD) - a deployable set of 640 Silicon Drift Detectors, for a total effective area of ∼3.4 m2, between 6 and 10 keV, and spectral resolution better than 250 eV; the Polarimetry Focusing Array (PFA) – a set of 2 X-ray telescope, for a total effective area of 250 cm2 at 2 keV, equipped with imaging gas pixel photoelectric polarimeters; the Wide Field Monitor (WFM) - a set of 3 coded mask wide field units, equipped with position-sensitive Silicon Drift Detectors, each covering a 90 degrees x 90 degrees field of view. The eXTP international consortium includes major institutions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Universities in China, as well as major institutions in several European countries and the United States. The predecessor of eXTP, the XTP mission concept, has been selected and funded as one of the so-called background missions in the Strategic Priority Space Science Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences since 2011. The strong European participation has significantly enhanced the scientific capabilities of eXTP. The planned launch date of the mission is earlier than 2025.
P. Soffitta, R. Bellazzini, E. Bozzo, V. Burwitz, A. Castro-Tirado, E. Costa, T. Courvoisier, H. Feng, S. Gburek, R. Goosmann, V. Karas, G. Matt, F. Muleri, K. Nandra, M. Pearce, J. Poutanen, V. Reglero, D. Sabau Maria, A. Santangelo, G. Tagliaferri, C. Tenzer, J. Vink, M. Weisskopf, S. Zane, I. Agudo, A. Antonelli, P. Attina, L. Baldini, A. Bykov, R. Carpentiero, E. Cavazzuti, E. Churazov, E. Del Monte, D. De Martino, I. Donnarumma, V. Doroshenko, Y. Evangelista, I. Ferreira, E. Gallo, N. Grosso, P. Kaaret, E. Kuulkers, J. Laranaga, L. Latronico, D. Lumb, J. Macian, J. Malzac, F. Marin, E. Massaro, M. Minuti, C. Mundell, J. U. Ness, T. Oosterbroek, S. Paltani, G. Pareschi, R. Perna, P.-O. Petrucci, H. B. Pinazo, M. Pinchera, J. P. Rodriguez, M. Roncadelli, A. Santovincenzo, S. Sazonov, C. Sgro, D. Spiga, J. Svoboda, C. Theobald, T. Theodorou, R. Turolla, E. Wilhelmi de Ona, B. Winter, A. M. Akbar, H. Allan, R. Aloisio, D. Altamirano, L. Amati, E. Amato, E. Angelakis, J. Arezu, J.-L. Atteia, M. Axelsson, M. Bachetti, L. Ballo, S. Balman, R. Bandiera, X. Barcons, S. Basso, A. Baykal, W. Becker, E. Behar, B. Beheshtipour, R. Belmont, E. Berger, F. Bernardini, S. Bianchi, G. Bisnovatyi-Kogan, P. Blasi, P. Blay, A. Bodaghee, M. Boer, M. Boettcher, S. Bogdanov, I. Bombaci, R. Bonino, J. Braga, W. Brandt, A. Brez, N. Bucciantini, L. Burderi, I. Caiazzo, R. Campana, S. Campana, F. Capitanio, M. Cappi, M. Cardillo, P. Casella, O. Catmabacak, B. Cenko, P. Cerda-Duran, C. Cerruti, S. Chaty, M. Chauvin, Y. Chen, J. Chenevez, M. Chernyakova, C. C. Cheung, D. Christodoulou, P. Connell, R. Corbet, F. Coti Zelati, S. Covino, W. Cui, G. Cusumano, A. D’Ai, F. D’Ammando, M. Dadina, Z. Dai, A. De Rosa, L. de Ruvo, N. Degenaar, M. Del Santo, L. Del Zanna, G. Dewangan, S. Di Cosimo, N. Di Lalla, G. Di Persio, T. Di Salvo, T. Dias, C. Done, M. Dovciak, G. Doyle, L. Ducci, R. Elsner, T. Enoto, J. Escada, P. Esposito, C. Eyles, S. Fabiani, M. Falanga, S. Falocco, Y. Fan, R. Fender, M. Feroci, C. Ferrigno, W. Forman, L. Foschini, C. Fragile, F. Fuerst, Y. Fujita, J. L. Gasent-Blesa, J. Gelfand, B. Gendre, G. Ghirlanda, G. Ghisellini, M. Giroletti, D. Goetz, E. Gogus, J.-L. Gomez, D. Gonzalez, R. Gonzalez-Riestra, E. Gotthelf, L. Gou, P. Grandi, V. Grinberg, F. Grise, C. Guidorzi, N. Gurlebeck, T. Guver, D. Haggard, M. Hardcastle, D. Hartmann, C. Haswell, A. Heger, M. Hernanz, J. Heyl, L. Ho, J. Hoormann, J. Horak, J. Huovelin, D. Huppenkothen, R. Iaria, C. Inam Sitki, A. Ingram, G. Israel, L. Izzo, M. Burgess, M. Jackson, L. Ji, J. Jiang, T. Johannsen, C. Jones, S. Jorstad, J. J. E. Kajava, M. Kalamkar, E. Kalemci, T. Kallman, A. Kamble, F. Kislat, M. Kiss, D. Klochkov, E. Koerding, M. Kolehmainen, K. Koljonen, S. Komossa, A. Kong, S. Korpela, M. Kowalinski, H. Krawczynski, I. Kreykenbohm, M. Kuss, D. Lai, M. Lan, J. Larsson, S. Laycock, D. Lazzati, D. Leahy, H. Li, J. Li, L.-X. Li, T. Li, Z. Li, M. Linares, M. Lister, H. Liu, G. Lodato, A. Lohfink, F. Longo, G. Luna, A. Lutovinov, S. Mahmoodifar, J. Maia, V. Mainieri, C. Maitra, D. Maitra, A. Majczyna, S. Maldera, D. Malyshev, A. Manfreda, A. Manousakis, R. Manuel, R. Margutti, A. Marinucci, S. Markoff, A. Marscher, H. Marshall, F. Massaro, M. McLaughlin, G. Medina-Tanco, M. Mehdipour, M. Middleton, R. Mignani, P. Mimica, T. Mineo, B. Mingo, G. Miniutti, S. M. Mirac, G. Morlino, A. Motlagh, S. Motta, A. Mushtukov, S. Nagataki, F. Nardini, J. Nattila, G. Navarro, B. Negri, Matteo Negro, S. Nenonen, V. Neustroev, F. Nicastro, A. Norton, A. Nucita, P. O’Brien, S. O’Dell, H. Odaka, B. Olmi, N. Omodei, M. Orienti, M. Orlandini, J. Osborne, L. Pacciani, V. Paliya, I. Papadakis, A. Papitto, Z. Paragi, P. Pascal, B. Paul, L. Pavan, A. Pellizzoni, E. Perinati, M. Pesce-Rollins, E. Piconcelli, A. Pili, M. Pilia, M. Pohl, G. Ponti, D. Porquet, A. Possenti, K. Postnov, I. Prandoni, N. Produit, G. Puehlhofer, B. Ramsey, M. Razzano, N. Rea, P. Reig, K. Reinsch, T. Reiprich, M. Reynolds, G. Risaliti, T. Roberts, J. Rodriguez, M. Rossi, S. Rosswog, A. Rozanska, A. Rubini, B. Rudak, D. Russell, F. Ryde, S. Sabatini, G. Sala, M. Salvati, M. Sasaki, T. Savolainen, R. Saxton, S. Scaringi, K. Schawinski, N. Schulz, A. Schwope, P. Severgnini, M. Sharon, A Shaw, A. Shearer, X. Shesheng, I. -C. Shih, K. Silva, R. Silva, E. Silver, A. Smale, F. Spada, G. Spandre, A. Stamerra, B. Stappers, S. Starrfield, L. Stawarz, N. Stergioulas, A. Stevens, H. Stiele, V. Suleimanov, R. Sunyaev, A. Slowikowska, F. Tamborra, F. Tavecchio, R. Taverna, A. Tiengo, L. Tolos, F. Tombesi, J. Tomsick, H. Tong, G. Torok, D. Torres, A. Tortosa, A. Tramacere, V. Trimble, G. Trinchieri, S. Tsygankov, M. Tuerler, S. Turriziani, F. Ursini, P. Uttley, P. Varniere, F. Vincent, E. Vurgun, C. Wang, Z. Wang, A. Watts, J. Wheeler, K. Wiersema, R. Wijnands, J. Wilms, A. Wolter, K. Wood, K. Wu, X. Wu, W. Xiangyu, F. Xie, R. Xu, S.-P. Yan, J. Yang, W. Yu, F. Yuan, A. Zajczyk, D. Zanetti, R. Zanin, C. Zanni, L. Zappacosta, A. Zdziarski, A. Zech, H. Zhang, S. Zhang, W. Zhang, A. Zoghbi
XIPE, the X-ray Imaging Polarimetry Explorer, is a mission dedicated to X-ray Astronomy. At the time of
writing XIPE is in a competitive phase A as fourth medium size mission of ESA (M4). It promises to reopen the
polarimetry window in high energy Astrophysics after more than 4 decades thanks to a detector that efficiently
exploits the photoelectric effect and to X-ray optics with large effective area. XIPE uniqueness is time-spectrally-spatially-
resolved X-ray polarimetry as a breakthrough in high energy astrophysics and fundamental physics.
Indeed the payload consists of three Gas Pixel Detectors at the focus of three X-ray optics with a total effective
area larger than one XMM mirror but with a low weight. The payload is compatible with the fairing of the Vega
launcher. XIPE is designed as an observatory for X-ray astronomers with 75 % of the time dedicated to a Guest
Observer competitive program and it is organized as a consortium across Europe with main contributions from
Italy, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden.
M. Feroci, E. Bozzo, S. Brandt, M. Hernanz, M. van der Klis, L.-P. Liu, P. Orleanski, M. Pohl, A. Santangelo, S. Schanne, L. Stella, T. Takahashi, H. Tamura, A. Watts, J. Wilms, S. Zane, S.-N. Zhang, S. Bhattacharyya, I. Agudo, M. Ahangarianabhari, C. Albertus, M. Alford, A. Alpar, D. Altamirano, L. Alvarez, L. Amati, C. Amoros, N. Andersson, A. Antonelli, A. Argan, R. Artigue, B. Artigues, J.-L. Atteia, P. Azzarello, P. Bakala, D. Ballantyne, G. Baldazzi, M. Baldo, S. Balman, M. Barbera, C. van Baren, D. Barret, A. Baykal, M. Begelman, E. Behar, O. Behar, T. Belloni, F. Bernardini, G. Bertuccio, S. Bianchi, A. Bianchini, P. Binko, P. Blay, F. Bocchino, M. Bode, P. Bodin, I. Bombaci, J.-M. Bonnet Bidaud, S. Boutloukos, F. Bouyjou, L. Bradley, J. Braga, M. Briggs, E. Brown, M. Buballa, N. Bucciantini, L. Burderi, M. Burgay, M. Bursa, C. Budtz-Jørgensen, E. Cackett, F. Cadoux, P. Cais, G. Caliandro, R. Campana, S. Campana, X. Cao, F. Capitanio, J. Casares, P. Casella, A. Castro-Tirado, E. Cavazzuti, Y. Cavechi, S. Celestin, P. Cerda-Duran, D. Chakrabarty, N. Chamel, F. Château, C. Chen, Y. Chen, J. Chenevez, M. Chernyakova, J. Coker, R. Cole, A. Collura, M. Coriat, R. Cornelisse, L. Costamante, A. Cros, W. Cui, A. Cumming, G. Cusumano, B. Czerny, A. D'Aì, F. D'Ammando, V. D'Elia, Z. Dai, E. Del Monte, A. De Luca, D. De Martino, J. P. C. Dercksen, M. De Pasquale, A. De Rosa, M. Del Santo, S. Di Cosimo, N. Degenaar, J. W. den Herder, S. Diebold, T. Di Salvo, Y. Dong, I. Donnarumma, V. Doroshenko, G. Doyle, S. Drake, M. Durant, D. Emmanoulopoulos, T. Enoto, M. H. Erkut, P. Esposito, Y. Evangelista, A. Fabian, M. Falanga, Y. Favre, C. Feldman, R. Fender, H. Feng, V. Ferrari, C. Ferrigno, M. Finger, G. Fraser, M. Frericks, M. Fullekrug, F. Fuschino, M. Gabler, D. K. Galloway, J. L. Gálvez Sanchez, P. Gandhi, Z. Gao, E. Garcia-Berro, B. Gendre, O. Gevin, S. Gezari, A. B. Giles, M. Gilfanov, P. Giommi, G. Giovannini, M. Giroletti, E. Gogus, A. Goldwurm, K. Goluchová, D. Götz, L. Gou, C. Gouiffes, P. Grandi, M. Grassi, J. Greiner, V. Grinberg, P. Groot, M. Gschwender, L. Gualtieri, M. Guedel, C. Guidorzi, L. Guy, D. Haas, P. Haensel, M. Hailey, K. Hamuguchi, F. Hansen, D. Hartmann, C. A. Haswell, K. Hebeler, A. Heger, M. Hempel, W. Hermsen, J. Homan, A. Hornstrup, R. Hudec, J. Huovelin, D. Huppenkothen, S. Inam, A. Ingram, J. In't Zand, G. Israel, K. Iwasawa, L. Izzo, H. Jacobs, F. Jetter, T. Johannsen, P. Jenke, P. Jonker, J. Josè, P. Kaaret, K. Kalamkar, E. Kalemci, G. Kanbach, V. Karas, D. Karelin, D. Kataria, L. Keek, T. Kennedy, D. Klochkov, W. Kluzniak, E. Koerding, K. Kokkotas, S. Komossa, S. Korpela, C. Kouveliotou, A. Kowalski, I. Kreykenbohm, L. Kuiper, D. Kunneriath, A. Kurkela, I. Kuvvetli, F. La Franca, C. Labanti, D. Lai, F. Lamb, C. Lachaud, P. Laubert, F. Lebrun, X. Li, E. Liang, O. Limousin, D. Lin, M. Linares, D. Linder, G. Lodato, F. Longo, F. Lu, N. Lund, T. Maccarone, D. Macera, S. Maestre, S. Mahmoodifar, D. Maier, P. Malcovati, J. Malzac, C. Malone, I. Mandel, V. Mangano, A. Manousakis, M. Marelli, J. Margueron, M. Marisaldi, S. Markoff, A. Markowitz, A. Marinucci, A. Martindale, G. Martínez, I. McHardy, G. Medina-Tanco, M. Mehdipour, A. Melatos, M. Mendez, S. Mereghetti, S. Migliari, R. Mignani, M. Michalska, T. Mihara, M. C. Miller, J. M. Miller, T. Mineo, G. Miniutti, S. Morsink, C. Motch, S. Motta, M. Mouchet, G. Mouret, J. Mulačová, F. Muleri, T. Muñoz-Darias, I. Negueruela, J. Neilsen, T. Neubert, A. Norton, M. Nowak, A. Nucita, P. O'Brien, M. Oertel, P. E. H. Olsen, M. Orienti, M. Orio, M. Orlandini, J. Osborne, R. Osten, F. Ozel, L. Pacciani, F. Paerels, S. Paltani, M. Paolillo, I. Papadakis, A. Papitto, Z. Paragi, J. Paredes, A. Patruno, B. Paul, F. Pederiva, E. Perinati, A. Pellizzoni, A. V. Penacchioni, U. Peretz, M. Perez, M. Perez-Torres, B. Peterson, V. Petracek, C. Pittori, J. Pons, J. Portell, A. Possenti, K. Postnov, J. Poutanen, M. Prakash, I. Prandoni, H. Le Provost, D. Psaltis, J. Pye, J. Qu, D. Rambaud, P. Ramon, G. Ramsay, M. Rapisarda, A. Rashevski, I. Rashevskaya, P. Ray, N. Rea, S. Reddy, P. Reig, M. Reina Aranda, R. Remillard, C. Reynolds, L. Rezzolla, M. Ribo, R. de la Rie, A. Riggio, A. Rios, D. Rischke, P. Rodríguez-Gil, J. Rodriguez, R. Rohlfs, P. Romano, E. M. Rossi, A. Rozanska, A. Rousseau, B. Rudak, D. Russell, F. Ryde, L. Sabau-Graziati, T. Sakamoto, G. Sala, R. Salvaterra, D. Salvetti, A. Sanna, J. Sandberg, T. Savolainen, S. Scaringi, J. Schaffner-Bielich, H. Schatz, J. Schee, C. Schmid, M. Serino, N. Shakura, S. Shore, J. Schnittman, R. Schneider, A. Schwenk, A. Schwope, A. Sedrakian, J.-Y. Seyler, A. Shearer, A. Slowikowska, M. Sims, A. Smith, D. Smith, P. Smith, M. Sobolewska, V. Sochora, P. Soffitta, P. Soleri, L. Song, A. Spencer, A. Stamerra, B. Stappers, R. Staubert, A. Steiner, N. Stergioulas, A. Stevens, G. Stratta, T. Strohmayer, Z. Stuchlik, S. Suchy, V. Suleimanov, F. Tamburini, T. Tauris, F. Tavecchio, C. Tenzer, F. Thielemann, A. Tiengo, L. Tolos, F. Tombesi, J. Tomsick, G. Torok, J. M. Torrejon, D. F. Torres, E. Torresi, A. Tramacere, I. Traulsen, A. Trois, R. Turolla, S. Turriziani, S. Typel, P. Uter, P. Uttley, A. Vacchi, P. Varniere, S. Vaughan, S. Vercellone, M. Vietri, F. Vincent, V. Vrba, D. Walton, J. Wang, Z. Wang, S. Watanabe, R. Wawrzaszek, N. Webb, N. Weinberg, H. Wende, P. Wheatley, R. Wijers, R. Wijnands, M. Wille, C. Wilson-Hodge, B. Winter, S. Walk, K. Wood, S. Woosley, X. Wu, R. Xu, W. Yu, F. Yuan, W. Yuan, Y. Yuan, G. Zampa, N. Zampa, L. Zampieri, L. Zdunik, A. Zdziarski, A. Zech, B. Zhang, C. Zhang, S. Zhang, M. Zingale, F. Zwart
The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) is a mission concept which was proposed to ESA as M3 and M4 candidate in the framework of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument and the uniquely large field of view of its wide field monitor, LOFT will be able to study the behaviour of matter in extreme conditions such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions close to black holes and neutron stars and the supra-nuclear densities in the interiors of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, >8m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1 degree collimated field of view) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM, 2-50 keV, 4 steradian field of view, 1 arcmin source location accuracy, 300 eV spectral resolution). The WFM is equipped with an on-board system for bright events (e.g., GRB) localization. The trigger time and position of these events are broadcast to the ground within 30 s from discovery. In this paper we present the current technical and programmatic status of the mission.
M. Feroci, J. W. den Herder, E. Bozzo, D. Barret, S. Brandt, M. Hernanz, M. van der Klis, M. Pohl, A. Santangelo, L. Stella, A. Watts, J. Wilms, S. Zane, M. Ahangarianabhari, C. Albertus, M. Alford, A. Alpar, D. Altamirano, L. Alvarez, L. Amati, C. Amoros, N. Andersson, A. Antonelli, A. Argan, R. Artigue, B. Artigues, J.-L. Atteia, P. Azzarello, P. Bakala, G. Baldazzi, S. Balman, M. Barbera, C. van Baren, S. Bhattacharyya, A. Baykal, T. Belloni, F. Bernardini, G. Bertuccio, S. Bianchi, A. Bianchini, P. Binko, P. Blay, F. Bocchino, P. Bodin, I. Bombaci, J.-M. Bonnet Bidaud, S. Boutloukos, L. Bradley, J. Braga, E. Brown, N. Bucciantini, L. Burderi, M. Burgay, M. Bursa, C. Budtz-Jørgensen, E. Cackett, F. Cadoux, P. Caïs, G. Caliandro, R. Campana, S. Campana, F. Capitanio, J. Casares, P. Casella, A. Castro-Tirado, E. Cavazzuti, P. Cerda-Duran, D. Chakrabarty, F. Château, J. Chenevez, J. Coker, R. Cole, A. Collura, R. Cornelisse, T. Courvoisier, A. Cros, A. Cumming, G. Cusumano, A. D'Ai, V. D'Elia, E. Del Monte, A. de Luca, D. de Martino, J. P. C. Dercksen, M. de Pasquale, A. De Rosa, M. Del Santo, S. Di Cosimo, S. Diebold, T. Di Salvo, I. Donnarumma, A. Drago, M. Durant, D. Emmanoulopoulos, M. H. Erkut, P. Esposito, Y. Evangelista, A. Fabian, M. Falanga, Y. Favre, C. Feldman, V. Ferrari, C. Ferrigno, M. Finger, G. Fraser, M. Frericks, F. Fuschino, M. Gabler, D. K. Galloway, J. L. Galvez Sanchez, E. Garcia-Berro, B. Gendre, S. Gezari, A. B. Giles, M. Gilfanov, P. Giommi, G. Giovannini, M. Giroletti, E. Gogus, A. Goldwurm, K. Goluchová, D. Götz, C. Gouiffes, M. Grassi, P. Groot, M. Gschwender, L. Gualtieri, C. Guidorzi, L. Guy, D. Haas, P. Haensel, M. Hailey, F. Hansen, D. Hartmann, C. A. Haswell, K. Hebeler, A. Heger, W. Hermsen, J. Homan, A. Hornstrup, R. Hudec, J. Huovelin, A. Ingram, J. In't Zand, G. Israel, K. Iwasawa, L. Izzo, H. Jacobs, F. Jetter, T. Johannsen, P. Jonker, J. Josè, P. Kaaret, G. Kanbach, V. Karas, D. Karelin, D. Kataria, L. Keek, T. Kennedy, D. Klochkov, W. Kluzniak, K. Kokkotas, S. Korpela, C. Kouveliotou, I. Kreykenbohm, L. Kuiper, I. Kuvvetli, C. Labanti, D. Lai, F. Lamb, P. Laubert, F. Lebrun, D. Lin, D. Linder, G. Lodato, F. Longo, N. Lund, T. J. Maccarone, D. Macera, S. Maestre, S. Mahmoodifar, D. Maier, P. Malcovati, I. Mandel, V. Mangano, A. Manousakis, M. Marisaldi, A. Markowitz, A. Martindale, G. Matt, I. McHardy, A. Melatos, M. Mendez, S. Mereghetti, M. Michalska, S. Migliari, R. Mignani, M. C. Miller, J. M. Miller, T. Mineo, G. Miniutti, S. Morsink, C. Motch, S. Motta, M. Mouchet, G. Mouret, J. Mulačová, F. Muleri, T. Muñoz-Darias, I. Negueruela, J. Neilsen, A. Norton, M. Nowak, P. O'Brien, P. E. H. Olsen, M. Orienti, M. Orio, M. Orlandini, P. Orleański, J. Osborne, R. Osten, F. Ozel, L. Pacciani, M. Paolillo, A. Papitto, J. Paredes, A. Patruno, B. Paul, E. Perinati, A. Pellizzoni, A. V. Penacchioni, M. A. Perez, V. Petracek, C. Pittori, J. Pons, J. Portell, A. Possenti, J. Poutanen, M. Prakash, P. Le Provost, D. Psaltis, D. Rambaud, P. Ramon, G. Ramsay, M. Rapisarda, A. Rachevski, I. Rashevskaya, P. Ray, N. Rea, S. Reddy, P. Reig, M. Reina Aranda, R. Remillard, C. Reynolds, L. Rezzolla, M. Ribo, R. de la Rie, A. Riggio, A. Rios, P. Rodríguez-Gil, J. Rodriguez, R. Rohlfs, P. Romano, E. M. R. Rossi, A. Rozanska, A. Rousseau, F. Ryde, L. Sabau-Graziati, G. Sala, R. Salvaterra, A. Sanna, J. Sandberg, S. Scaringi, S. Schanne, J. Schee, C. Schmid, S. Shore, R. Schneider, A. Schwenk, A. Schwope, J.-Y. Seyler, A. Shearer, A. Smith, D. Smith, P. Smith, V. Sochora, P. Soffitta, P. Soleri, A. Spencer, B. Stappers, A. Steiner, N. Stergioulas, G. Stratta, T. Strohmayer, Z. Stuchlik, S. Suchy, V. Sulemainov, T. Takahashi, F. Tamburini, T. Tauris, C. Tenzer, L. Tolos, F. Tombesi, J. Tomsick, G. Torok, J. M. Torrejon, D. F. Torres, A. Tramacere, A. Trois, R. Turolla, S. Turriziani, P. Uter, P. Uttley, A. Vacchi, P. Varniere, S. Vaughan, S. Vercellone, V. Vrba, D. Walton, S. Watanabe, R. Wawrzaszek, N. Webb, N. Weinberg, H. Wende, P. Wheatley, R. Wijers, R. Wijnands, M. Wille, C. Wilson-Hodge, B. Winter, K. Wood, G. Zampa, N. Zampa, L. Zampieri, L. Zdunik, A. Zdziarski, B. Zhang, F. Zwart, M. Ayre, T. Boenke, C. Corral van Damme, Erik Kuulkers, D. Lumb
The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) was studied within ESA M3 Cosmic Vision framework and participated in the final downselection for a launch slot in 2022-2024. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument, LOFT will study the behaviour of matter under extreme conditions, such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions of accretion flows close to black holes and neutron stars, and the supranuclear densities in the interior of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, 10 m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1° collimated field of view) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM, 2-50 keV, 4 steradian field of view, 1 arcmin source location accuracy, 300 eV spectral resolution). The WFM is equipped with an on-board system for bright events (e.g. GRB) localization. The trigger time and position of these events are broadcast to the ground within 30 s from discovery. In this paper we present the status of the mission at the end of its Phase A study.
LOFT (Large Observatory for X-ray Timing) is one of the five candidates that were considered by ESA as an M3 mission (with launch in 2022-2024) and has been studied during an extensive assessment phase. It is specifically designed to perform fast X-ray timing and probe the status of the matter near black holes and neutron stars. Its pointed instrument is the Large Area Detector (LAD), a 10 m2-class instrument operating in the 2-30keV range, which holds the capability to revolutionise studies of variability from X-ray sources on the millisecond time scales.
The LAD instrument has now completed the assessment phase but was not down-selected for launch. However, during the assessment, most of the trade-offs have been closed leading to a robust and well documented design that will be reproposed in future ESA calls. In this talk, we will summarize the characteristics of the LAD design and give an overview of the expectations for the instrument capabilities.
M. Feroci, J. den Herder, E. Bozzo, D. Barret, S. Brandt, M. Hernanz, M. van der Klis, M. Pohl, A. Santangelo, L. Stella, A. Watts, J. Wilms, S. Zane, M. Ahangarianabhari, A. Alpar, D. Altamirano, L. Alvarez, L. Amati, C. Amoros, N. Andersson, A. Antonelli, A. Argan, R. Artigue, P. Azzarello, G. Baldazzi, S. Balman, M. Barbera, T. Belloni, G. Bertuccio, S. Bianchi, A. Bianchini, P. Bodin, J.-M. Bonnet Bidaud, S. Boutloukos, J. Braga, E. Brown, N. Bucciantini, L. Burderi, M. Bursa, C. Budtz-Jørgensen, E. Cackett, F. Cadoux, P. Cais, G. Caliandro, R. Campana, S. Campana, P. Casella, D. Chakrabarty, J. Chenevez, J. Coker, R. Cole, A. Collura, T. Courvoisier, A. Cros, A. Cumming, G. Cusumano, A. D'Ai, V. D'Elia, E. Del Monte, D. de Martino, A. De Rosa, S. Di Cosimo, S. Diebold, T. Di Salvo, I. Donnarumma, A. Drago, M. Durant, D. Emmanoulopoulos, Y. Evangelista, A. Fabian, M. Falanga, Y. Favre, C. Feldman, C. Ferrigno, M. Finger, G. Fraser, F. Fuschino, D. Galloway, J. Galvez Sanchez, E. Garcia-Berro, B. Gendre, S. Gezari, A. Giles, M. Gilfanov, P. Giommi, G. Giovannini, M. Giroletti, A. Goldwurm, D. Götz, C. Gouiffes, M. Grassi, P. Groot, C. Guidorzi, D. Haas, F. Hansen, D. Hartmann, C. A. Haswell, A. Heger, J. Homan, A. Hornstrup, R. Hudec, J. Huovelin, A. Ingram, J. J. In't Zand, J. Isern, G. Israel, L. Izzo, P. Jonker, P. Kaaret, V. Karas, D. Karelin, D. Kataria, L. Keek, T. Kennedy, D. Klochkov, W. Kluzniak, K. Kokkotas, S. Korpela, C. Kouveliotou, I. Kreykenbohm, L. Kuiper, I. Kuvvetli, C. Labanti, D. Lai, F. Lamb, F. Lebrun, D. Lin, D. Linder, G. Lodato, F. Longo, N. Lund, T. Maccarone, D. Macera, D. Maier, P. Malcovati, V. Mangano, A. Manousakis, M. Marisaldi, A. Markowitz, A. Martindale, G. Matt, I. McHardy, A. Melatos, M. Mendez, S. Migliari, R. Mignani, M. Miller, J. Miller, T. Mineo, G. Miniutti, S. Morsink, C. Motch, S. Motta, M. Mouchet, F. Muleri, A. Norton, M. Nowak, P. O'Brien, M. Orienti, M. Orio, M. Orlandini, P. Orleanski, J. Osborne, R. Osten, F. Ozel, L. Pacciani, A. Papitto, B. Paul, E. Perinati, V. Petracek, J. Portell, J. Poutanen, D. Psaltis, D. Rambaud, G. Ramsay, M. Rapisarda, A. Rachevski, P. Ray, N. Rea, S. Reddy, P. Reig, M. Reina Aranda, R. Remillard, C. Reynolds, P. Rodríguez-Gil, J. Rodriguez, P. Romano, E. M. Rossi, F. Ryde, L. Sabau-Graziati, G. Sala, R. Salvaterra, A. Sanna, S. Schanne, J. Schee, C. Schmid, A. Schwenk, A. Schwope, J.-Y. Seyler, A. Shearer, A. Smith, D. Smith, P. Smith, V. Sochora, P. Soffitta, P. Soleri, B. Stappers, B. Steltzer, N. Stergioulas, G. Stratta, T. Strohmayer, Z. Stuchlik, S. Suchy, V. Sulemainov, T. Takahashi, F. Tamburini, C. Tenzer, L. Tolos, G. Torok, J. Torrejon, D. Torres, A. Tramacere, A. Trois, S. Turriziani, P. Uter, P. Uttley, A. Vacchi, P. Varniere, S. Vaughan, S. Vercellone, V. Vrba, D. Walton, S. Watanabe, R. Wawrzaszek, N. Webb, N. Weinberg, H. Wende, P. Wheatley, R. Wijers, R. Wijnands, M. Wille, C. Wilson-Hodge, B. Winter, K. Wood, G. Zampa, N. Zampa, L. Zampieri, A. Zdziarski, B. Zhang
The LOFT mission concept is one of four candidates selected by ESA for the M3 launch opportunity as Medium Size missions of the Cosmic Vision programme. The launch window is currently planned for between 2022 and 2024. LOFT is designed to exploit the diagnostics of rapid X-ray flux and spectral variability that directly probe the motion of matter down to distances very close to black holes and neutron stars, as well as the physical state of ultradense matter. These primary science goals will be addressed by a payload composed of a Large Area Detector (LAD) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM). The LAD is a collimated (<1 degree field of view) experiment operating in the energy range 2-50 keV, with a 10 m2 peak effective area and an energy resolution of 260 eV at 6 keV. The WFM will operate in the same energy range as the LAD, enabling simultaneous monitoring of a few-steradian wide field of view, with an angular resolution of <5 arcmin. The LAD and WFM experiments will allow us to investigate variability from submillisecond QPO’s to yearlong transient outbursts. In this paper we report the current status of the project.
The Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT) is one of the four candidate ESA M3 missions considered for launch in
the 2022 timeframe. It is specifically designed to perform fast X-ray timing and probe the status of the matter near black
holes and neutron stars. The LOFT scientific payload is composed of a Large Area Detector (LAD) and a Wide Field
Monitor (WFM). The LAD is a 10 m2-class pointed instrument with 20 times the collecting area of the best past timing
missions (such as RXTE) over the 2-30 keV range, which holds the capability to revolutionize studies of X-ray
variability down to the millisecond time scales. Its ground-breaking characteristic is a low mass per unit surface,
enabling an effective area of ~10 m2 (@10 keV) at a reasonable weight. The development of such large but light
experiment, with low mass and power per unit area, is now made possible by the recent advancements in the field of
large-area silicon detectors - able to time tag an X-ray photon with an accuracy <10 μs and an energy resolution of ~260
eV at 6 keV - and capillary-plate X-ray collimators. In this paper, we will summarize the characteristics of the LAD
instrument and give an overview of its capabilities.
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