0000000000403422
AUTHOR
A. Pellizzoni
The Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT)
High-time-resolution X-ray observations of compact objects provide direct access to strong-field gravity, to the equation of state of ultra-dense matter and to black hole masses and spins. A 10 m^2-class instrument in combination with good spectral resolution is required to exploit the relevant diagnostics and answer two of the fundamental questions of the European Space Agency (ESA) Cosmic Vision Theme "Matter under extreme conditions", namely: does matter orbiting close to the event horizon follow the predictions of general relativity? What is the equation of state of matter in neutron stars? The Large Observatory For X-ray Timing (LOFT), selected by ESA as one of the four Cosmic Vision M…
XIPE: the x-ray imaging polarimetry explorer
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 bu…
The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing
The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) was studied within ESA M3 Cosmic Vision framework and participated in the final down-selection 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 supra-nuclear densities in the interior of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, 10 m 2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1 deg collimated field of view) and a WideFi…
LOFT - A large observatory for x-ray timing
The high time resolution observations of the X-ray sky hold the key to a number of diagnostics of fundamental physics, some of which are unaccessible to other types of investigations, such as those based on imaging and spectroscopy. Revealing strong gravitational field effects, measuring the mass and spin of black holes and the equation of state of ultradense matter are among the goals of such observations. At present prospects for future, non-focused X-ray timing experiments following the exciting age of RXTE/PCA are uncertain. Technological limitations are unavoidably faced in the conception and development of experiments with effective area of several square meters, as needed in order to…