Line Emission Mapper (LEM): Probing the physics of cosmic ecosystems
Abstract
The Line Emission Mapper (LEM) is an X-ray Probe for the 2030s that will answer the outstanding questions of the Universe's structure formation. It will also provide transformative new observing capabilities for every area of astrophysics, and to heliophysics and planetary physics as well. LEM's main goal is a comprehensive look at the physics of galaxy formation, including stellar and black-hole feedback and flows of baryonic matter into and out of galaxies. These processes are best studied in X-rays, and emission-line mapping is the pressing need in this area. LEM will use a large microcalorimeter array/IFU, covering a 30x30' field with 10" angular resolution, to map the soft X-ray line emission from objects that constitute galactic ecosystems. These include supernova remnants, star-forming regions, superbubbles, galactic outflows (such as the Fermi/eROSITA bubbles in the Milky Way and their analogs in other galaxies), the Circumgalactic Medium in the Milky Way and other galaxies, and the Intergalactic Medium at the outskirts and beyond the confines of galaxies and clusters. LEM's 1-2 eV spectral resolution in the 0.2-2 keV band will make it possible to disentangle the faintest emission lines in those objects from the bright Milky Way foreground, providing groundbreaking measurements of the physics of these plasmas, from temperatures, densities, chemical composition to gas dynamics. While LEM's main focus is on galaxy formation, it will provide transformative capability for all classes of astrophysical objects, from the Earth's magnetosphere, planets and comets to the interstellar medium and X-ray binaries in nearby galaxies, AGN, and cooling gas in galaxy clusters. In addition to pointed observations, LEM will perform a shallow all-sky survey that will dramatically expand the discovery space.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2211.09827,
title = {Line Emission Mapper (LEM): Probing the physics of cosmic ecosystems},
author = {Ralph Kraft and Maxim Markevitch and Caroline Kilbourne and Joseph S. Adams and Hiroki Akamatsu and Mohammadreza Ayromlou and Simon R. Bandler and Marco Barbera and Douglas A. Bennett and Anil Bhardwaj and Veronica Biffi and Dennis Bodewits and Akos Bogdan and Massimiliano Bonamente and Stefano Borgani and Graziella Branduardi-Raymont and Joel N. Bregman and Joseph N. Burchett and Jenna Cann and Jenny Carter and Priyanka Chakraborty and Eugene Churazov and Robert A. Crain and Renata Cumbee and Romeel Dave and Michael DiPirro and Klaus Dolag and W. Bertrand Doriese and Jeremy Drake and William Dunn and Megan Eckart and Dominique Eckert and Stefano Ettori and William Forman and Massimiliano Galeazzi and Amy Gall and Efrain Gatuzz and Natalie Hell and Edmund Hodges-Kluck and Caitriona Jackman and Amir Jahromi and Fred Jennings and Christine Jones and Philip Kaaret and Patrick J. Kavanagh and Richard L. Kelley and Ildar Khabibullin and Chang-Goo Kim and Dimitra Koutroumpa and Orsolya Kovacs and K. D. Kuntz and Erwin Lau and Shiu-Hang Lee and Maurice Leutenegger and Sheng-Chieh Lin and Carey Lisse and Ugo Lo Cicero and Lorenzo Lovisari and Dan McCammon and Sean McEntee and Francois Mernier and Eric D. Miller and Daisuke Nagai and Michela Negro and Dylan Nelson and Jan-Uwe Ness and Paul Nulsen and Anna Ogorzalek and Benjamin D. Oppenheimer and Lidia Oskinova and Daniel Patnaude and Ryan W. Pfeifle and Annalisa Pillepich and Paul Plucinsky and David Pooley and Frederick S. Porter and Scott Randall and Elena Rasia and John Raymond and Mateusz Ruszkowski and Kazuhiro Sakai and Arnab Sarkar and Manami Sasaki and Kosuke Sato and Gerrit Schellenberger and Joop Schaye and Aurora Simionescu and Stephen J. Smith and James F. Steiner and Jonathan Stern and Yuanyuan Su and Ming Sun and Grant Tremblay and Nhut Truong and James Tutt and Eugenio Ursino and Sylvain Veilleux and Alexey Vikhlinin and Stephan Vladutescu-Zopp and Mark Vogelsberger and Stephen A. Walker and Kimberly Weaver and Dale M. Weigt and Jessica Werk and Norbert Werner and Scott J. Wolk and Congyao Zhang and William W. Zhang and Irina Zhuravleva and John ZuHone},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2211.09827},
year = {2023}
}
Comments
18 pages. White paper for a mission concept to be submitted for the 2023 NASA Astrophysics Probes opportunity. v2: All-sky survey figure expanded, references fixed. v3: Added energy resolution measurements for prototype detector array. v4: Author list and reference fixes