LOFT: the Large Observatory For X-ray Timing
Abstract
The LOFT mission concept is one of four candidates selected by ESA for the M3 launch opportunity as Medium Size missions of the Cosmic Vision programme. The launch window is currently planned for between 2022 and 2024. LOFT is designed to exploit the diagnostics of rapid X-ray flux and spectral variability that directly probe the motion of matter down to distances very close to black holes and neutron stars, as well as the physical state of ultra-dense matter. These primary science goals will be addressed by a payload composed of a Large Area Detector (LAD) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM). The LAD is a collimated (<1 degree field of view) experiment operating in the energy range 2-50 keV, with a 10 m^2 peak effective area and an energy resolution of 260 eV at 6 keV. The WFM will operate in the same energy range as the LAD, enabling simultaneous monitoring of a few-steradian wide field of view, with an angular resolution of <5 arcmin. The LAD and WFM experiments will allow us to investigate variability from submillisecond QPO's to year-long transient outbursts. In this paper we report the current status of the project.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1209.1497,
title = {LOFT: the Large Observatory For X-ray Timing},
author = {M. Feroci and J. W. den Herder and E. Bozzo and D. Barret and S. Brandt and M. Hernanz and M. van der Klis and M. Pohl and A. Santangelo and L. Stella and A. Watts and J. Wilms and S. Zane and M. Ahangarianabhari and A. Alpar and D. Altamirano and L. Alvarez and L. Amati and C. Amoros and N. Andersson and A. Antonelli and A. Argan and R. Artigue and P. Azzarello and G. Baldazzi and S. Balman and M. Barbera and T. Belloni and G. Bertuccio and S. Bianchi and A. Bianchini and P. Bodin and J. -M. Bonnet Bidaud and S. Boutloukos and J. Braga and E. Brown and N. Bucciantini and L. Burderi and M. Bursa and C. Budtz-Jørgensen and E. Cackett and F. R. Cadoux and P. Cais and G. A. Caliandro and R. Campana and S. Campana and P. Casella and D. Chakrabarty and J. Chenevez and J. Coker and R. Cole and A. Collura and T. Courvoisier and A. Cros and A. Cumming and G. Cusumano and A. D'Aì and V. D'Elia and E. Del Monte and D. De Martino and A. De Rosa and S. Di Cosimo and S. Diebold and T. Di Salvo and I. Donnarumma and A. Drago and M. Durant and D. Emmanoulopoulos and Y. Evangelista and A. Fabian and M. Falanga and Y. Favre and C. Feldman and C. Ferrigno and M. H. Finger and G. W. Fraser and F. Fuschino and D. K. Galloway and J. L. Galvez Sanchez and E. Garcia-Berro and B. Gendre and S. Gezari and A. B. Giles and M. Gilfanov and P. Giommi and G. Giovannini and M. Giroletti and A. Goldwurm and D. Götz and C. Gouiffes and M. Grassi and P. Groot C. Guidorzi and D. Haas and F. Hansen and D. H. Hartmann and C. A. Haswe and A. Heger and J. Homan and A. Hornstrup and R. Hudec and J. Huovelin and A. Ingram and J. J. M. in't Zand and J. Isern and G. Israe and L. Izzo and P. Jonker and P. Kaaret and V. Karas and D. Karelin and D. Kataria and L. Keek and T. Kennedy and D. Klochkov and W. Kluzniak and K. Kokkotas and S. Korpela and C. Kouveliotou and I. Kreykenbohm and L. M. Kuiper and I. Kuvvetli and C. Labanti and D. Lai and F. K. Lamb and F. Lebrun and D. Lin and D. Linder and G. Lodato and F. Longo and N. Lund and T. J. Maccarone and D. Macera and D. Maier and P. Malcovati and V. Mangano and A. Manousakis and M. Marisaldi and A. Markowitz and A. Martindale and G. Matt and I. M. McHardy and A. Melatos and M. Mendez and S. Migliari and R. Mignani and M. C. Miller and J. M. Miller and T. Mineo and G. Miniutti and S. Morsink and C. Motch and S. Motta and M. Mouchet and F. Muleri and A. J. Norton and M. Nowak and P. O'Brien and M. Orienti and M. Orio and M. Orlandini and P. Orleanski and J. P. Osborne and R. Osten and F. Ozel and L. Pacciani and A. Papitto and B. Paul and E. Perinati and V. Petracek and J. Portell and J. Poutanen and D. Psaltis and D. Rambaud and G. Ramsay and M. Rapisarda and A. Rachevski and P. S. Ray and N. Rea and S. Reddy and P. Reig and M. Reina Aranda and R. Remillard and C. Reynolds and P. Rodríguez-Gil and J. Rodriguez and P. Romano and E. M. R. Rossi and F. Ryde and L. Sabau-Graziati and G. Sala and R. Salvaterra and A. Sanna and S. Schanne and J. Schee and C. Schmid and A. Schwenk and A. D. Schwope and J. -Y. Seyler and A. Shearer and A. Smith and D. M. Smith and P. J. Smith and V. Sochora and P. Soffitta and P. Soleri and B. Stappers and B. Stelzer and N. Stergioulas and G. Stratta and T. E. Strohmayer and Z. Stuchlik and S. Suchy and V. Sulemainov and T. Takahashi and F. Tamburini and C. Tenzer and L. Tolos and G. Torok and J. M. Torrejon and D. F. Torres and A. Tramacere and A. Trois and S. Turriziani and P. Uter and P. Uttley and A. Vacchi and P. Varniere and S. Vaughan and S. Vercellone and V. Vrba and D. Walton and S. Watanabe and R. Wawrzaszek and N. Webb and N. Weinberg and H. Wende and P. Wheatley and R. Wijers and R. Wijnands and M. Wille and C. A. Wilson-Hodge and B. Winter and K. Wood and G. Zampa and N. Zampa and L. Zampieri and A. Zdziarski and B. Zhang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1209.1497},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 8443, Paper No. 8443-85, 2012