Exploration of the high-redshift universe enabled by THESEUS

0549675 - ASÚ 2022 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Tanvir, N. R. - Le Floch, E. - Christensen, L. - Hudec, René … Total 38 authors
Exploration of the high-redshift universe enabled by THESEUS.
Experimental Astronomy. Roč. 52, č. 3 (2021), s. 219-244. ISSN 0922-6435. E-ISSN 1572-9508
Institutional support: RVO:67985815
Keywords : gamma-ray bursts * reionization * star forming galaxies
OECD category: Astronomy (including astrophysics,space science)
Impact factor: 2.155, year: 2021
Method of publishing: Open access

At peak, long-duration gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous sources of electromagnetic radiation known. Since their progenitors are massive stars, they provide a tracer of star formation and star-forming galaxies over the whole of cosmic history. Their bright power-law afterglows provide ideal backlights for absorption studies of the interstellar and intergalactic medium back to the reionization era. The proposed THESEUS mission is designed to detect large samples of GRBs at z > 6 in the 2030s, at a time when supporting observations with major next generation facilities will be possible, thus enabling a range of transformative science. THESEUS will allow us to explore the faint end of the luminosity function of galaxies and the star formation rate density to high redshifts, constrain the progress of re-ionisation beyond z greater than or similar to 6, study in detail early chemical enrichment from stellar explosions, including signatures of Population III stars, and potentially characterize the dark energy equation of state at the highest redshifts.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0328333