Related papers: The SKA and the Unknown Unknowns

The Square Kilometre Array is conceived as a telescope which will both test fundamental physical laws and transform our current picture of the Universe. However, the scientific challenges outlined in this book are today's problems--will…

Most major discoveries in astronomy have come from unplanned discoveries made by surveying the Universe in a new way, rather than by testing a hypothesis or conducting an investigation with planned outcomes. Next generation radio continuum…

The new frontier of cosmology will be led by three-dimensional surveys of the large-scale structure of the Universe. Based on its all-sky surveys and redshift depth, the SKA is destined to revolutionize cosmology, in combination with future…

The SKA will be capable of producing a stream of science data products that are Exa-scale in terms of their storage and processing requirements. This Google-scale enterprise is attracting considerable international interest and excitement…

The bandwith, sensitivity and sheer survey speed of the SKA offers unique potential for deep spectroscopic surveys of the Milky Way. Within the frequency bands available to the SKA lie many transitions that trace the ionised, radical and…

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is intended as the next-generation radio telescope and will address fundamental questions in astrophysics, physics, and astrobiology. The international science community has developed a set of Key Science…

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) provides an excellent opportunity for low cost searches for fast radio transients. The increased sensitivity and field of view of the SKA compared with other radio telescopes will make it an ideal instrument…

With the high sensitivity and wide-field coverage of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), large samples of explosive transients are expected to be discovered. Radio wavelengths, especially in commensal survey mode, are particularly well suited…

Transient radio sources are necessarily compact and usually are the locations of explosive or dynamic events, therefore offering unique opportunities for probing fundamental physics and astrophysics. In addition, short-duration transients…

The SKA's design is driven by the needs of cutting-edge radio astronomy for sensitivity and spacial resolution. However its design is also driven by the desire to explore the transient radio Universe. In addition to pulsars, the SKA will be…

Both Phase 1 of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA1) and the full SKA have the potential to dramatically increase the science return from future astrophysics, heliophysics, and especially planetary missions, primarily due to the greater…

The study of the Universe on ultra-large scales is one of the major science cases for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The SKA will be able to probe a vast volume of the cosmos, thus representing a unique instrument, amongst…

The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) will explore the radio sky to new depths in order to conduct transformational science. SKAO data products made available to astronomers will be correspondingly large and complex, requiring the…

I summarize the science drivers presented at the workshop for Phase I of the Square Kilometre Array: 'Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array'. I build from the historical perspective of the original Key Science programs:…

The SKA will build upon early detections of the EoR by precursor instruments, such as MWA, PAPER, and LOFAR, and planned instruments, such as HERA, to make the first high signal-to-noise measurements of fluctuations in the 21 cm brightness…

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will make ground breaking discoveries in pulsar science. In this chapter we outline the SKA surveys for new pulsars, as well as how we will perform the necessary follow-up timing observations. The SKA's wide…

Astronomy at or below the 'survey threshold' has expanded significantly since the publication of the original 'Science with the Square Kilometer Array' in 1999 and its update in 2004. The techniques in this regime may be broadly (but far…

When completed the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will feature an unprecedented rate of image generation. While previous generations of telescopes have relied on human expertise to extract scientifically interesting information from the…

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA), when it becomes functional, is expected to enrich neutron star (NS) catalogues by at least an order of magnitude over their current state. This includes the discovery of new NS objects leading to better…

In this chapter we provide an overview of the science enabled by radio continuum surveys in the SKA era, focusing on galaxy/galaxy cluster physics and evolution studies, and other relevant continuum science in the >2020 scientific…