2006/06/14 by Martin Elvis · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Computer science #History and Developments in Astronomy #Physics #Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life #Space exploration and regulation #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1117/12.672053
published as 2006SPIE.6266E..20E · Enhanced version of SPIE paper. 9 pages, 0 figures
openalex publication_date 2006/06/14 · arxiv created 2006/08/25 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Some tests of fundamental physics - the equation of state at supra-nuclear densities, the metric in strong gravity, the effect of magnetic fields above the quantum critical value - can only be measured using compact astrophysical objects: neutron stars and black holes. The Extreme Physics Explorer is a modest sized (~500 kg) mission that would carry a high resolution (R ~300) X-ray spectrometer and a sensitive X-ray polarimeter, both with high time resolution (~5 μs) capability, at the focus of a large area (~5 sq.m), low resolution (HPD~1 arcmin) X-ray mirror. This instrumentation would enable new classes of tests of fundamental physics using neutron stars and black holes as cosmic laboratories.