The THESEUS space mission concept: science case, design and expected performances

descriptionPublicationkeyboard_double_arrow_right Article , Preprint 01 Jul 2018Embargo end date: 01 Jan 2017 Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Italy, Italy, Netherlands, Italy, Italy, Italy, Hungary, Italy, Turkey, Italy, Italy, Denmark, United Kingdom, Russian Federation, Italy, Italy, Belgium, Italy, Italy, France, Italy, Italy, United Kingdom, Italy, Denmark, Slovenia, United States English Publisher:Elsevier BVJournal:Advances in Space Research, volume 62, pages 191-244 (issn: 0273-1177,

Copyright policy )Publicly fundedFunded by:EC | COSMOLOGICAL CANDLES, EC | GRAWITON

Authors: Amati, L.; O'Brien, P.; Goetz, D.; Bozzo, E.; Tenzer, C.; Frontera, F.; Ghirlanda, G.; +193 Authors

Amati, L.; O'Brien, P.; Goetz, D.; Bozzo, E.; Tenzer, C.; Frontera, F.; Ghirlanda, G.; Labanti, C.; Osborne, J. P.; Stratta, G.; Tanvir, N.; Willingale, R.; Attina, P.; Campana, R.; Castro-Tirado, A. J.; Contini, C.; Fuschino, F.; Gomboc, A.; Hudec, R.; Orleanski, P.; Renotte, E.; Rodic, T.; Bagoly, Z.; Blain, A.; Callanan, P.; Covino, S.; Ferrara, A.; Floch, E. Le; Marisaldi, M.; Mereghetti, S.; Rosati, P.; Vacchi, A.; D'Avanzo, P.; Giommi, P.; Gomboc, A.; Piranomonte, S.; Piro, L.; Reglero, V.; Rossi, A.; Santangelo, A.; Salvaterra, R.; Tagliaferri, G.; Vergani, S.; Vinciguerra, S.; Briggs, M.; Campolongo, E.; Ciolfi, R.; Connaughton, V.; Cordier, B.; Morelli, B.; Orlandini, M.; Adami, C.; Argan, A.; Atteia, J. -L.; Auricchio, N.; Balazs, L.; Baldazzi, G.; Basa, S.; Basak, R.; Bellutti, P.; Bernardini, M. G.; Bertuccio, G.; Braga, J.; Branchesi, M.; Brandt, S.; Brocato, E.; Budtz-Jorgensen, C.; Bulgarelli, A.; Burderi, L.; Camp, J.; Capozziello, S.; Caruana, J.; Casella, P.; Cenko, B.; Chardonnet, P.; Ciardi, B.; Colafrancesco, S.; Dainotti, M. G.; D'Elia, V.; De Martino, D.; De Pasquale, M.; Del Monte, E.; Della Valle, M.; Drago, A.; Evangelista, Y.; Feroci, M.; Finelli, F.; Fiorini, M.; Fynbo, J.; Gal-Yam, A.; Gendre, B.; Ghisellini, G.; Grado, A.; Guidorzi, C.; Hafizi, M.; Hanlon, L.; Hjorth, J.; Izzo, L.; Kiss, L.; Kumar, P.; Kuvvetli, I.; Lavagna, M.; Li, T.; Longo, F.; Lyutikov, M.; Maio, U.; Maiorano, E.; Malcovati, P.; Malesani, D.; Margutti, R.; Martin-Carrillo, A.; Masetti, N.; McBreen, S.; Mignani, R.; Morgante, G.; Mundell, C.; Nargaard-Nielsen, H. U.; Nicastro, L.; Palazzi, E.; Paltani, S.; Panessa, F.; Pareschi, G.; Pe'er, A.; Penacchioni, A. V.; Pian, E.; Piedipalumbo, E.; Piran, T.; Rauw, G.; Razzano, M.; Read, A.; Rezzolla, L.; Romano, P.; Ruffini, R.; Savaglio, S.; Sguera, V.; Schady, P.; Skidmore, W.; Song, L.; Stanway, E.; Starling, R.; Topinka, M.; Troja, E.; van Putten, M.; Vanzella, E.; Vercellone, S.; Wilson-Hodge, C.; Yonetoku, D.; Zampa, G.; Zampa, N.; Zhang, B.; Zhang, B. B.; Zhang, S.; Zhang, S. -N.; Antonelli, A.; Bianco, F.; Boci, S.; Boer, M.; Botticella, M. T.; Boulade, O.; Butler, C.; Campana, S.; Capitanio, F.; Celotti, A.; Chen, Y.; Colpi, M.; Comastri, A.; Cuby, J. -G.; Dadina, M.; De Luca, A.; Dong, Y. -W.; Ettori, S.; Gandhi, P.; Geza, E.; Greiner, J.; Guiriec, S.; Harms, J.; Hernanz, M.; Hornstrup, A.; Hutchinson, I.; Israel, G.; Jonker, P.; Kaneko, Y.; Kawai, N.; Wiersema, K.; Korpela, S.; Lebrun, V.; Lu, F.; MacFadyen, A.; Malaguti, G.; Maraschi, L.; Melandri, A.; Modjaz, M.; Morris, D.; Omodei, N.; Paizis, A.; Pata, P.; Petrosian, V.; Rachevski, A.; Rhoads, J.; Ryde, F.;

doi: 10.1016/j.asr.2018.03.010 , 10.48550/arxiv.1710.04638

arXiv: 1710.04638

The THESEUS space mission concept: science case, design and expected performances

- Summary
- Subjects
- Metrics

Abstract

THESEUS is a space mission concept aimed at exploiting Gamma-Ray Bursts for investigating the early Universe and at providing a substantial advancement of multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics. These goals will be achieved through a unique combination of instruments allowing GRB and X-ray transient detection over a broad field of view (more than 1sr) with 0.5-1 arcmin localization, an energy band extending from several MeV down to 0.3 keV and high sensitivity to transient sources in the soft X-ray domain, as well as on-board prompt (few minutes) follow-up with a 0.7 m class IR telescope with both imaging and spectroscopic capabilities. THESEUS will be perfectly suited for addressing the main open issues in cosmology such as, e.g., star formation rate and metallicity evolution of the inter-stellar and intra-galactic medium up to redshift $\sim$10, signatures of Pop III stars, sources and physics of re-ionization, and the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function. In addition, it will provide unprecedented capability to monitor the X-ray variable sky, thus detecting, localizing, and identifying the electromagnetic counterparts to sources of gravitational radiation, which may be routinely detected in the late '20s / early '30s by next generation facilities like aLIGO/ aVirgo, eLISA, KAGRA, and Einstein Telescope. THESEUS will also provide powerful synergies with the next generation of multi-wavelength observatories (e.g., LSST, ELT, SKA, CTA, ATHENA).

Accepted for publication in Advances in Space Research. Partly based on the proposal submitted on October 2016 in response to the ESA Call for next M5 mission, with expanded and updated science sections

Countries

Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Italy, Italy, Netherlands, Italy, Italy, Italy, Hungary, Italy, Turkey, Italy, Italy, Denmark, United Kingdom, Russian Federation, Italy, Italy, Belgium, Italy, Italy, France, Italy, Italy, United Kingdom, Italy, Denmark, Slovenia, United States

Related Organizations

California Institute of Technology
United States
University of Trieste
Italy
Max Planck Society
Germany
Stanford University
United States
University of Copenhagen
Denmark

View all View all

Keywords

cosmological model, Cherenkov Telescope Array, Aérospatiale, astronomie & astrophysique, Astronomy, Dark age, Astrophysics / csillagászat, Cosmology: observation, localization, Gamma ray bursts, MICROSENSOR INTERFACE CIRCUIT, Einstein Telescope, observational cosmology, QB Astronomy, Re-ionization, dark ages, LIGO, Cosmology: observations; Dark ages; First stars; Gamma-ray: bursts; Re-ionization, observations [Cosmology], High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), energy: high, sezele, Astrophysics; Ionization; Stars; Telescopes; X rays, Cosmology: observation; Dark ages; Gamma-ray: bursts; Gravitational radiation; High sensitivity; Luminosity functions; Multi-wavelengths; Star formation rates, Gamma rays; Cosmology: observations; Dark ages; First stars; Gamma-ray: bursts; Re-ionization, gamma-ray bursts, Cosmology: observations, Cosmology: observations; Dark ages; First stars; Gamma-ray: bursts; Re-ionization; Aerospace Engineering; Space and Planetary Science, imaging, star: formation, gamma-ray: bursts, 520, observatory, sateliti, Q1 Science (General) / természettudomány általában, Cosmology: observations; Dark ages; First stars; Gamma-ray: bursts; Re-ionization;, Dark ages, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, signature, INTEGRATED CIRCUIT FOR SPACE, Physique, chimie, mathématiques & sciences de la terre, Gamma-ray: burst, first stars, izbruhi sevanja gama, Aerospace Engineering, Gamma-ray: bursts, FOS: Physical sciences, X-ray astronomy: instrumentation, galaxy: luminosity, gamma ray: burst, 530, X-ray, bursts [Gamma-ray], Physical, chemical, mathematical & earth Sciences, First star, re-ionization, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), First stars, gravitational radiation, 500, sensitivity, redshift, messenger, electromagnetic, VIRGO, asztrofizika, Space and Planetary Science, cosmology: observations, Space science, astronomy & astrophysics, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], [PHYS.ASTR] Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], X-RAY DETECTOR

Impact byBIP!

	selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).	167
	popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.	Top 1%
	influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).	Top 1%
	impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.	Top 1%