Scientific Goals
In the last few years we have
witnessed an impressive advancement in the field of high energy
astrophysics. This progress, while addressing old-standing issues, has
opened new frontiers in the exploration of the Universe, its evolution
and the extreme physical processes taking place in the core of its
constituents.
A fundamental quest of mankind is to understand how the Universe was
born, how its constituents evolve and what its fate will be. Recent
discoveries in astrophysics indicate that ordinary matter (baryons), of
which stars and ourselves are made of, contributes only marginally (<5%)
to the whole fraction of matter+energy budget of the Universe. The bulk
(>95%) of matter+energy composing the Universe is "dark", i.e. unknown.
One of the primary goal of this mission is to study the evolution of the
Universe from the dark ages of the formation of the first objects to
present epochs and to gather information on the origin of the dark
matter by measuring the properties of the X-ray emitting ordinary matter
accreting onto dark-matter structures.
The study of cosmic explosions in X-rays offers a unique opportunity to
test physics laws in extreme conditions and on the other side to study
the role of these energetic and violent population of objects in the
evolution of the Universe, encompassing the most distant and brightest
events in the Universe, Gamma-Ray Burst, to massive black holes in
Active Galactic Nuclei, Supernova explosions in nearby external galaxies,
explosive phenomena in our Galaxy from exotic and compact objects to
flare stars.
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