Published June 3, 2024, 1:22 p.m.
Seminario Lorenzo Amati (INAF Bologna) - Cosmology and extreme physics with the THESEUS space mission
5 June 2024,16:00 - Physical Seminar Series Announcement!
Cosmic Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are energetic flashes of hard X-ray/soft gamma rays that last from a fraction of a second up to several minutes. They can occur multiple times in a day and are detected by gamma-ray satellites at unpredictable times from random directions at cosmological distances. Most GRBs (long-lived gamma-ray emission) are more energetic and are produced during the gravitational collapse of the core of particular massive stars. Less common are shorter events and are due to the merger of two neutron stars (NS) or a neutron star and a black hole (BH). I will present the Transient High-Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor (THESEUS), a mission concept aimed at taking full advantage of the unique properties of GRBs, to investigate the early stages of the Universe, when the first stars and galaxies were forming, as a phenomenon key to gravitational waves and neutrino astrophysics and fundamental physics tests. Developed by a broad European collaboration coordinated by INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica) and under study by ESA since 2018,
THESEUS is currently a medium-size mission candidate for launch in the mid-2030s. Featuring an X-ray/gamma-ray monitor and an infrared telescope, this space mission will be a wonderful machine for the detection, multi-wavelength characterization and distance measurement of any type of GRB and many classes of X-ray transients. Through these unprecedented capabilities, THESEUS will also have a great impact on general astrophysics
and multi-messenger domain (e.g. Einstein Telescope, Cosmic Explorer, km3NET).
Venue: Classroom 32 C3 of the Department of Physics, Building 32 C 6th
Floor.
More info at the link
After the seminar a light refreshment will be served to favor discussions