0000000000431137
AUTHOR
Giovanni Amelino-camelia
GrailQuest and HERMES: hunting for gravitational wave electromagnetic counterparts and probing space-time quantum foam
GrailQuest (Gamma-ray Astronomy International Laboratory for Quantum Exploration of Space-Time) is an ambitious astrophysical mission concept that uses a fleet of small satellites whose main objective is to search for a dispersion law for light propagation in vacuo. Within Quantum Gravity theories, different models for space-time quantization predict relative discrepancies of the speed of photons w.r.t. the speed of light that depend on the ratio of the photon energy to the Planck energy. This ratio is as small as 10-23 for photons in the γ- ray band (100 keV). Therefore, to detect this effect, light must propagate over enormous distances and the experiment must have extraordinary sensitivi…
GrailQuest: hunting for atoms of space and time hidden in the wrinkle of Space-Time: A swarm of nano/micro/small-satellites to probe the ultimate structure of Space-Time and to provide an all-sky monitor to study high-energy astrophysics phenomena
AbstractGrailQuest(Gamma Ray Astronomy International Laboratory for QUantum Exploration of Space-Time) is a mission concept based on a constellation (hundreds/thousands) of nano/micro/small-satellites in low (or near) Earth orbits. Each satellite hosts a non-collimated array of scintillator crystals coupled with Silicon Drift Detectors with broad energy band coverage (keV-MeV range) and excellent temporal resolution (≤ 100 nanoseconds) each with effective area$\sim 100 \text {cm}^{2}$∼100cm2. This simple and robust design allows for mass-production of the satellites of the fleet. This revolutionary approach implies a huge reduction of costs, flexibility in the segmented launching strategy, …
The HERMES-Technologic and Scientific Pathfinder
HERMES-TP/SP (High Energy Rapid Modular Ensemble of Satellites Technologic and Scientific Pathfinder) is a constellation of six 3U nano-satellites hosting simple but innovative X-ray detectors, characterized by a large energy band and excellent temporal resolution, and thus optimized for the monitoring of Cosmic High Energy transients such as Gamma Ray Bursts and the electromagnetic counterparts of Gravitational Wave Events, and for the determination of their positions. The projects are funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research and by the Italian Space Agency, and by the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under Grant Agreement No. 821896. HERMES-TP/S…
The scientific payload on-board the HERMES-TP and HERMES-SP CubeSat missions
HERMES (High Energy Rapid Modular Ensemble of Satellites) Technological and Scientific pathfinder is a space borne mission based on a LEO constellation of nano-satellites. The 3U CubeSat buses host new miniaturized detectors to probe the temporal emission of bright high-energy transients such as Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). Fast transient localization, in a field of view of several steradians and with arcmin-level accuracy, is gained by comparing time delays among the same event detection epochs occurred on at least 3 nano-satellites. With a launch date in 2022, HERMES transient monitoring represents a keystone capability to complement the next generation of gravitational wave experiments. In t…