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

Amati, Lorenzo; O'Brien, P.; Götz, D.; Bozzo, E.; Tenzer, C.; Frontera, Filippo; Ghirlanda, G.; Labanti, C.; Osborne, J. P.; Stratta, G.; Tanvir, N.; Willingale, R.; Attina, P.; Campana, Riccardo; 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.; Le Floch, E.; Marisaldi, M.; Mereghetti, S.; Rosati, P.; Vacchi, A.; D'Avanzo, P.; Giommi, P.; 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, Pankaj; Kuvvetli, I.; Lavagna, M.; Li, Tiantian; Longo, F.; Lyutikov, M.; Maio, U.; Maiorano, E.; Malcovati, P.; Malesani, D.; Margutti, R.; Martin-Carrillo, A.; Masetti, Nicola; Mcbreen, S.; Mignani, R.; Morgante, G.; Mundell, C.; Nargaard-Nielsen, H. U.; Nicastro, Lorenzo; Palazzi, E.; Paltani, S.; Panessa, Francesca; Pareschi, G.; Pe'Er, A.; Penacchioni, A. V.; Pian, E.; Piedipalumbo, E.; Piran, T.; Rauw, G.; Razzano, M.; Read, A.; Rezzolla, Luciano; Romano, P.; Ruffini, Renato; 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, Fabian; Celotti, A.; Chen, Y.; Colpi, M.; Comastri, A.; Cuby, J. -G.; Dadina, Mauro; 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, Yuka; 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.; Páta, P.; Petrosian, V.; Rachevski, A.; Rhoads, J.; Ryde, F.; Sabau-Graziati, L.; Shigehiro, N.; Sims, M.; Soomin, J.; Szécsi, D.; Urata, Y.; Uslenghi, M.; Valenziano, L.; Vianello, G.; Vojtech, S.; Watson, D.; Zicha, J.

doi:10.1016/j.asr.2018.03.010

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 ∼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). © 2018 COSPAR

The THESEUS space mission concept: science case, design and expected performances / Amati, L. and O'Brien, P. and Götz, D. and Bozzo, E. and Tenzer, C. and Frontera, F. and Ghirlanda, G. and Labanti, C. and Osborne, J.P. and Stratta, G. and Tanvir, N. and Willingale, R. and Attina, P. and Campana, R. and Castro-Tirado, A.J. and Contini, C. and Fuschino, F. and Gomboc, A. and Hudec, R. and Orleanski, P. and Renotte, E. and Rodic, T. and Bagoly, Z. and Blain, A. and Callanan, P. and Covino, S. and Ferrara, A. and Le Floch, E. and Marisaldi, M. and Mereghetti, S. and Rosati, P. and Vacchi, A. and D'Avanzo, P. and Giommi, P. and Piranomonte, S. and Piro, L. and Reglero, V. and Rossi, A. and Santangelo, A. and Salvaterra, R. and Tagliaferri, G. and Vergani, S. and Vinciguerra, S. and Briggs, M. and Campolongo, E. and Ciolfi, R. and Connaughton, V. and Cordier, B. and Morelli, B. and Orlandini, M. and Adami, C. and Argan, A. and Atteia, J.-L. and Auricchio, N. and Balazs, L. and Baldazzi, G. and Basa, S. and Basak, R. and Bellutti, P. and Bernardini, M.G. and Bertuccio, G. and Braga, J. and Branchesi, M. and Brandt, S. and Brocato, E. and Budtz-Jorgensen, C. and Bulgarelli, A. and Burderi, L. and Camp, J. and Capozziello, S. and Caruana, J. and Casella, P. and Cenko, B. and Chardonnet, P. and Ciardi, B. and Colafrancesco, S. and Dainotti, M.G. and D'Elia, V. and De Martino, D. and De Pasquale, M. and Del Monte, E. and Della Valle, M. and Drago, A. and Evangelista, Y. and Feroci, M. and Finelli, F. and Fiorini, M. and Fynbo, J. and Gal-Yam, A. and Gendre, B. and Ghisellini, G. and Grado, A. and Guidorzi, C. and Hafizi, M. and Hanlon, L. and Hjorth, J. and Izzo, L. and Kiss, L. and Kumar, P. and Kuvvetli, I. and Lavagna, M. and Li, T. and Longo, F. and Lyutikov, M. and Maio, U. and Maiorano, E. and Malcovati, P. and Malesani, D. and Margutti, R. and Martin-Carrillo, A. and Masetti, N. and McBreen, S. and Mignani, R. and Morgante, G. and Mundell, C. and Nargaard-Nielsen, H.U. and Nicastro, L. and Palazzi, E. and Paltani, S. and Panessa, F. and Pareschi, G. and Pe'er, A. and Penacchioni, A.V. and Pian, E. and Piedipalumbo, E. and Piran, T. and Rauw, G. and Razzano, M. and Read, A. and Rezzolla, L. and Romano, P. and Ruffini, R. and Savaglio, S. and Sguera, V. and Schady, P. and Skidmore, W. and Song, L. and Stanway, E. and Starling, R. and Topinka, M. and Troja, E. and van Putten, M. and Vanzella, E. and Vercellone, S. and Wilson-Hodge, C. and Yonetoku, D. and Zampa, G. and Zampa, N. and Zhang, B. and Zhang, B.B. and Zhang, S. and Zhang, S.-N. and Antonelli, A. and Bianco, F. and Boci, S. and Boer, M. and Botticella, M.T. and Boulade, O. and Butler, C. and Campana, S. and Capitanio, F. and Celotti, A. and Chen, Y. and Colpi, M. and Comastri, A. and Cuby, J.-G. and Dadina, M. and De Luca, A. and Dong, Y.-W. and Ettori, S. and Gandhi, P. and Geza, E. and Greiner, J. and Guiriec, S. and Harms, J. and Hernanz, M. and Hornstrup, A. and Hutchinson, I. and Israel, G. and Jonker, P. and Kaneko, Y. and Kawai, N. and Wiersema, K. and Korpela, S. and Lebrun, V. and Lu, F. and MacFadyen, A. and Malaguti, G. and Maraschi, L. and Melandri, A. and Modjaz, M. and Morris, D. and Omodei, N. and Paizis, A. and Páta, P. and Petrosian, V. and Rachevski, A. and Rhoads, J. and Ryde, F. and Sabau-Graziati, L. and Shigehiro, N. and Sims, M. and Soomin, J. and Szécsi, D. and Urata, Y. and Uslenghi, M. and Valenziano, L. and Vianello, G. and Vojtech, S. and Watson, D. and Zicha, J.. - In: ADVANCES IN SPACE RESEARCH. - ISSN 0273-1177. - STAMPA. - 62:1(2018), pp. 191-244. [10.1016/j.asr.2018.03.010]