A deep study of the high–energy transient sky

Abstract

The coming decades will establish the exploration of the gravitational wave (GW) Universe over a broad frequency range by ground and space interferometers. Meanwhile, wide-field, high-cadence and sensitive surveys will span the electromagnetic spectrum from radio all the way up to TeV, as well as the high-energy neutrino window. Among the numerous classes of transients, γ–ray bursts (GRBs) have direct links with most of the hot topics that will be addressed, such as the strong gravity regime, relativistic shocks, particle acceleration processes, equation of state of matter at nuclear density, and nucleosynthesis of heavy elements, just to mention a few. Other recently discovered classes of transients that are observed throughout cosmological distances include fast radio bursts (FRBs), fast blue optical transients (FBOTs), and other unidentified high-energy transients. Here we discuss how these topics can be addressed by a mission called ASTENA (Advanced Surveyor of Transient Events and Nuclear Astrophysics, see Frontera et al. 18). Its payload combines two instruments: (i) an array of wide-field monitors with imaging, spectroscopic, and polarimetric capabilities (WFM-IS); (ii) a narrow field telescope (NFT) based on a Laue lens operating in the 50–600 keV range with unprecedented angular resolution, polarimetric capabilities, and sensitivity.

Opening the path to hard X-/soft gamma-ray focussing: the ASTENA-pathfinder mission

“…High energy astrophysics has still unanswered questions mainly due to the poor sensitivity of the present instrumentation: transient events like gamma-ray bursts and in particular their X-ray afterglow emission, blazars and magnetars spectra are just a few examples of science that would benefit from higher sensitive instruments. An exhaustive review of the science that can be tackled with future focusing optics can be found in [1,2]. A substantial increase in sensitivity can be achieved by enabling hard x-ray focusing.…”

Silicon pore optics: a mature and adaptable x-ray mirror technology

“…SiLCs have the potential to overcome limitations imposed by the depth dose distribution, allowing the clinical use of low-energy photon beams for radiation therapy 32 (see Figure 4 for an artist impression). In high-energy astrophysics, significant efforts have been devoted to the development of focusing gamma-ray technology 28,29,[33][34][35][36][37] while work on Laue lenses for hard X-ray polarimetry is ongoing at cosine. 38…”

Design and modeling of a Laue lens for radiation therapy with hard x-ray photons

“…Laue lenses have the potential to overcome the limitations imposed by the depth dose distribution, thereby enabling the clinical use of low-energy photon beams for radiotherapy. In high-energy astrophysics, there have been significant efforts devoted to the development of a focusing gamma-ray technology (Lund 1992, Halloin et al 2003, Frontera and von Ballmoos 2010, Barrière et al 2014, Guidorzi et al 2021.…”