Related papers: ASTRO-H White Paper - New Spectral Features
Spectrographs take snapshots of photon spectra with array detectors by dispersing photons of different energies into distinct directions and spacial locations. Spectrographs require optics with a large angular dispersion rate as the key…
I summarize some constraints on the physics of neutron stars arising from X-ray observations of the surfaces of neutron stars, focusing on using models of low-magnetic-field neutron star atmospheres to interpret their X-ray spectra. I…
High resolution spectroscopic observations of Seyfert galaxies with Chandra and XMM-Newton allows us to study the detailed ionization and thermal structures of the X-ray absorbing/emitting material in the circumnuclear environment. The vast…
Despite an intense theoretical and experimental effort over the past decade, observations of the extragalactic radio background at multiple frequencies below 10 GHz are not understood in terms of known radio sources, and may represent a…
Breakthroughs in physics and astrophysics are often driven by technological advances, with the recent detection of gravitational waves being one such example. This white paper focuses upon how improved astrometric and spectroscopic…
Future X-ray telescopes like SIMBOL-X will operate in a wide band of the X-ray spectrum (from 0.1 to 80 keV); these telescopes will extend the optical performances of the existing soft X-ray telescopes to the hard X-ray band, and in…
The Astro2020 Decadal Survey declared that the baryon cycle is one of the top-priority science topics for current astrophysics. Space instruments with both high spectral resolution and high throughput in the ultraviolet are required for…
We present photoionization and collisional ionization models, and their application to three important fields: (a) the Warm Absorbers/Emitters in type 1 AGN, (b) the Warm Reflectors in Type 2 AGN, and (c) X-ray absorption of background…
The study of extragalactic sources of high energy radiation via the direct measurement of the proton and neutrino fluxes that they are likely to emit is one of the main goals for the future observations of the recently developed air showers…
This white paper discusses the breadth of science related to active galactic nuclei (AGN) and associated phenomena to be enabled by a mission with microcalorimeter energy resolution in the soft X-ray band, a large collecting area, and…
Quasars selected in optical surveys by means of their blue or UV excess are known to be strong emitters in the X-rays, except for Broad Absorption Line (BAL) objects. In this paper we study the X-ray emission of quasars selected through…
We discuss the region of transition between galactic and extragalactic cosmic rays. The exact shapes and compositions of these two components contains information about important parameters of powerful astrophysical sources and the…
The lowest-mass stars, brown dwarfs and giant exoplanets span a minimum in the mass-radius relationship that probes the fundamental physics of extreme states of matter, magnetism, and fusion. This White Paper outlines scientific…
Light bending due to strong gravity has recently been invoked to explain variability and flux correlations between different bands in some accreting black holes. A characteristic feature of light bending is reflection-dominated spectra,…
In this review paper, we present the main aspects of high-energy cosmic neutrino astrophysics. We begin by describing the generic expectations for cosmic neutrinos, including the effects of propagation from their sources to the detectors.…
We present a short overview on the extragalactic background radiation from radio to X-rays, with an eye to the relation to galaxy formation and emphasizing on astrophysical backgrounds (as opposed to cosmological). As the radio background,…
Macroscopic dark matter -- "macros"-- refers to a broad class of alternative candidates to particle dark matter with still unprobed regions of parameter space. These candidates would transfer energy primarily through elastic scattering with…
In these lecture notes I briefly discuss the present day situation and new discoveries in astrophysics of neutron stars focusing on isolated objects. The latter include soft gamma repeaters, anomalous X-ray pulsars, central compact objects…
This "pedagogical" review describes the key Chandra and XMM-Newton extragalactic surveys to date and details some of their implications for AGN physics and evolution. We additionally highlight two topics of current widespread interest: (1)…
Transmission spectra probe the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets, but these observations are also subject to signals introduced by magnetic active regions on host stars. Here we outline scientific opportunities in the next decade for…