LOFT: the Large Observatory For X-ray Timing
M. Feroci
,
J. W. Den Herder
,
E. Bozzo
,
D. Barret
,
S. Brandt
,
M. Hernanz
,
M. van Der Klis
,
M. Pohl
,
A. Santangelo
,
L. Stella
,
A. Watts
,
J. Wilms
,
S. Zane
,
M. Ahangarianabhari
,
A. Alpar
,
D. Altamirano
,
L. Alvarez
,
L. Amati
,
C. Amoros
,
N. Andersson
,
A. Antonelli
,
A. Argan
,
R. Artigue
,
P. Azzarello
,
G. Baldazzi
,
S. Balman
,
M. Barbera
,
T. Belloni
,
G. Bertuccio
,
S. Bianchi
,
A. Bianchini
,
P. Bodin
,
J. -M. Bonnet Bidaud
,
S. Boutloukos
,
José Braga
,
E. Brown
,
N. Bucciantini
,
L. Burderi
,
M. Bursa
,
C. Budtz-Jørgensen
,
E. Cackett
,
F. R. Cadoux
,
Ph. Cais
(1)
,
G. A. Caliandro
,
R. Campana
,
S. Campana
(2)
,
P. Casella
,
D. Chakrabarty
,
J. Chenevez
,
J. Coker
(3)
,
R. Cole
,
A. Collura
,
T. Courvoisier
,
A. Cros
,
A. Cumming
,
G. Cusumano
,
A. d'Aì
,
V. d'Elia
,
E. del Monte
,
D. de Martino
,
A. de Rosa
,
S. Di Cosimo
,
S. Diebold
,
T. Di Salvo
,
I. Donnarumma
,
A. Drago
,
M. Durant
(4)
,
D. Emmanoulopoulos
,
Y. Evangelista
,
A. Fabian
,
M. Falanga
,
Y. Favre
,
C. Feldman
,
C. Ferrigno
,
M. H. Finger
,
G. W. Fraser
,
F. Fuschino
,
D. K. Galloway
,
J. L. Galvez Sanchez
,
E. Garcia-Berro
,
B. Gendre
,
S. Gezari
,
A. B. Giles
,
M. Gilfanov
,
P. Giommi
,
G. Giovannini
,
M. Giroletti
,
A. Goldwurm
(5)
,
D. Götz
(6)
,
C. Gouiffes
(7, 6)
,
M. Grassi
,
P. Groot C. Guidorzi
,
D. Haas
,
F. Hansen
,
D. H. Hartmann
,
C. A. Haswe
,
A. Heger
,
J. Homan
,
A. Hornstrup
,
R. Hudec
,
J. Huovelin
,
A. Ingram
,
J. J. M. In'T Zand
,
J. Isern
,
G. Israe
,
L. Izzo
,
P. Jonker
,
P. Kaaret
,
V. Karas
,
D. Karelin
,
D. Kataria
,
L. Keek
,
T. Kennedy
,
D. Klochkov
,
W. Kluzniak
,
K. Kokkotas
,
S. Korpela
,
C. Kouveliotou
,
I. Kreykenbohm
,
L. M. Kuiper
,
I. Kuvvetli
,
C. Labanti
,
D. Lai
,
F. K. Lamb
,
F. Lebrun
(7, 8)
,
D. Lin
,
D. Linder
,
G. Lodato
,
F. Longo
,
N. Lund
,
T. J. Maccarone
,
D. Macera
,
D. Maier
,
P. Malcovati
,
V. Mangano
(9)
,
A. Manousakis
,
M. Marisaldi
,
A. Markowitz
,
A. Martindale
,
G. Matt
,
I. M. Mchardy
,
A. Melatos
,
M. Mendez
,
S. Migliari
,
R. Mignani
,
M. C. Miller
,
J. M. Miller
,
T. Mineo
,
G. Miniutti
,
S. Morsink
,
C. Motch
,
S. Motta
,
M. Mouchet
(8, 10)
,
F. Muleri
,
A. J. Norton
,
M. Nowak
,
P. O'Brien
,
M. Orienti
,
M. Orio
(11)
,
M. Orlandini
,
P. Orleanski
,
J. P. Osborne
,
R. Osten
,
F. Ozel
,
L. Pacciani
,
A. Papitto
,
B. Paul
(7)
,
E. Perinati
,
V. Petracek
,
J. Portell
,
J. Poutanen
,
D. Psaltis
,
D. Rambaud
,
G. Ramsay
,
M. Rapisarda
,
A. Rachevski
,
P. S. Ray
,
N. Rea
,
S. Reddy
(12, 13)
,
P. Reig
,
M. Reina Aranda
,
R. Remillard
,
C. Reynolds
,
P. Rodríguez-Gil
,
J. Rodriguez
(14, 15)
,
P. Romano
,
E. M. R. Rossi
,
F. Ryde
,
L. Sabau-Graziati
,
G. Sala
(16)
,
R. Salvaterra
(17)
,
A. Sanna
,
S. Schanne
(7)
,
J. Schee
,
C. Schmid
,
A. Schwenk
,
A. D. Schwope
,
J. -Y. Seyler
,
A. Shearer
,
Agnès Smith
(18)
,
D. M. Smith
,
P. J. Smith
,
V. Sochora
,
P. Soffitta
,
P. Soleri
,
B. Stappers
,
B. Stelzer
,
N. Stergioulas
,
G. Stratta
,
T. E. Strohmayer
,
Z. Stuchlik
,
S. Suchy
,
V. Sulemainov
,
T. Takahashi
,
F. Tamburini
(19)
,
C. Tenzer
,
L. Tolos
,
G. Torok
,
J. M. Torrejon
,
D. F. Torres
,
A. Tramacere
,
A. Trois
,
S. Turriziani
,
P. Uter
,
P. Uttley
,
A. Vacchi
,
P. Varniere
(8)
,
S. Vaughan
,
S. Vercellone
,
V. Vrba
,
D. Walton
,
S. Watanabe
,
R. Wawrzaszek
,
N. Webb
,
N. Weinberg
,
H. Wende
,
P. Wheatley
,
R. Wijers
,
R. Wijnands
,
M. Wille
,
C. A. Wilson-Hodge
,
B. Winter
,
K. Wood
,
G. Zampa
,
N. Zampa
,
L. Zampieri
,
A. Zdziarski
,
B. Zhang
1
FORMATION STELLAIRE 2012
2 IAPS - Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali - INAF
3 MSSL - Mullard Space Science Laboratory
4 PCAS
5 APC - AHE - APC - Astrophysique des Hautes Energies
6 AIM (UMR7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112) - Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation
7 IRFU - Institut de Recherches sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers
8 APC (UMR_7164) - AstroParticule et Cosmologie
9 IFSI - Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario
10 LUTH (UMR_8102) - Laboratoire Univers et Théories
11 LASIRE - Laboratoire Avancé de Spectroscopie pour les Intéractions la Réactivité et l'Environnement - UMR 8516
12 LOA - Laboratoire d’Optique Atmosphérique - UMR 8518
13 GFDL - NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
14 UGR - Universidad de Granada = University of Granada
15 Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (CSIC)
16 UPC - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya = Université polytechnique de Catalogne [Barcelona]
17 IASF-MI - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica - Milano
18 GEMH - Groupe d'Etudes des Matériaux Hétérogènes
19 Institute of Geology
2 IAPS - Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali - INAF
3 MSSL - Mullard Space Science Laboratory
4 PCAS
5 APC - AHE - APC - Astrophysique des Hautes Energies
6 AIM (UMR7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112) - Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation
7 IRFU - Institut de Recherches sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers
8 APC (UMR_7164) - AstroParticule et Cosmologie
9 IFSI - Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario
10 LUTH (UMR_8102) - Laboratoire Univers et Théories
11 LASIRE - Laboratoire Avancé de Spectroscopie pour les Intéractions la Réactivité et l'Environnement - UMR 8516
12 LOA - Laboratoire d’Optique Atmosphérique - UMR 8518
13 GFDL - NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
14 UGR - Universidad de Granada = University of Granada
15 Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (CSIC)
16 UPC - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya = Université polytechnique de Catalogne [Barcelona]
17 IASF-MI - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica - Milano
18 GEMH - Groupe d'Etudes des Matériaux Hétérogènes
19 Institute of Geology
M. Feroci
- Function : Author
J. W. Den Herder
- Function : Author
E. Bozzo
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 765668
- ORCID : 0000-0002-7504-7423
D. Barret
- Function : Author
S. Brandt
- Function : Author
M. Hernanz
- Function : Author
M. van Der Klis
- Function : Author
M. Pohl
- Function : Author
A. Santangelo
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 756060
- ORCID : 0000-0003-4187-9560
L. Stella
- Function : Author
A. Watts
- Function : Author
J. Wilms
- Function : Author
S. Zane
- Function : Author
M. Ahangarianabhari
- Function : Author
A. Alpar
- Function : Author
D. Altamirano
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 766295
- ORCID : 0000-0002-3422-0074
- IdRef : 131436813
L. Alvarez
- Function : Author
L. Amati
- Function : Author
C. Amoros
- Function : Author
N. Andersson
- Function : Author
A. Antonelli
- Function : Author
A. Argan
- Function : Author
R. Artigue
- Function : Author
P. Azzarello
- Function : Author
G. Baldazzi
- Function : Author
S. Balman
- Function : Author
M. Barbera
- Function : Author
T. Belloni
- Function : Author
G. Bertuccio
- Function : Author
S. Bianchi
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 755631
- ORCID : 0000-0002-9384-846X
A. Bianchini
- Function : Author
P. Bodin
- Function : Author
J. -M. Bonnet Bidaud
- Function : Author
S. Boutloukos
- Function : Author
José Braga
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 790942
- IdHAL : jose-braga
- ORCID : 0000-0002-8483-076X
- IdRef : 063243288
E. Brown
- Function : Author
N. Bucciantini
- Function : Author
L. Burderi
- Function : Author
M. Bursa
- Function : Author
C. Budtz-Jørgensen
- Function : Author
E. Cackett
- Function : Author
F. R. Cadoux
- Function : Author
G. A. Caliandro
- Function : Author
R. Campana
- Function : Author
P. Casella
- Function : Author
D. Chakrabarty
- Function : Author
J. Chenevez
- Function : Author
R. Cole
- Function : Author
A. Collura
- Function : Author
T. Courvoisier
- Function : Author
A. Cros
- Function : Author
A. Cumming
- Function : Author
G. Cusumano
- Function : Author
A. d'Aì
- Function : Author
V. d'Elia
- Function : Author
E. del Monte
- Function : Author
D. de Martino
- Function : Author
A. de Rosa
- Function : Author
S. Di Cosimo
- Function : Author
S. Diebold
- Function : Author
T. Di Salvo
- Function : Author
I. Donnarumma
- Function : Author
A. Drago
- Function : Author
D. Emmanoulopoulos
- Function : Author
Y. Evangelista
- Function : Author
A. Fabian
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 756574
- ORCID : 0000-0002-9378-4072
- IdRef : 082114749
M. Falanga
- Function : Author
Y. Favre
- Function : Author
C. Feldman
- Function : Author
C. Ferrigno
- Function : Author
M. H. Finger
- Function : Author
G. W. Fraser
- Function : Author
F. Fuschino
- Function : Author
D. K. Galloway
- Function : Author
J. L. Galvez Sanchez
- Function : Author
E. Garcia-Berro
- Function : Author
B. Gendre
- Function : Author
S. Gezari
- Function : Author
A. B. Giles
- Function : Author
M. Gilfanov
- Function : Author
P. Giommi
- Function : Author
G. Giovannini
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 765330
- ORCID : 0000-0003-4916-6362
M. Giroletti
- Function : Author
M. Grassi
- Function : Author
P. Groot C. Guidorzi
- Function : Author
D. Haas
- Function : Author
F. Hansen
- Function : Author
D. H. Hartmann
- Function : Author
C. A. Haswe
- Function : Author
A. Heger
- Function : Author
J. Homan
- Function : Author
A. Hornstrup
- Function : Author
R. Hudec
- Function : Author
J. Huovelin
- Function : Author
A. Ingram
- Function : Author
J. J. M. In'T Zand
- Function : Author
J. Isern
- Function : Author
G. Israe
- Function : Author
L. Izzo
- Function : Author
P. Jonker
- Function : Author
P. Kaaret
- Function : Author
V. Karas
- Function : Author
D. Karelin
- Function : Author
D. Kataria
- Function : Author
L. Keek
- Function : Author
T. Kennedy
- Function : Author
D. Klochkov
- Function : Author
W. Kluzniak
- Function : Author
K. Kokkotas
- Function : Author
S. Korpela
- Function : Author
C. Kouveliotou
- Function : Author
I. Kreykenbohm
- Function : Author
L. M. Kuiper
- Function : Author
I. Kuvvetli
- Function : Author
C. Labanti
- Function : Author
D. Lai
- Function : Author
F. K. Lamb
- Function : Author
D. Lin
- Function : Author
D. Linder
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 766888
- ORCID : 0000-0002-0305-3146
G. Lodato
- Function : Author
F. Longo
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 755442
- ORCID : 0000-0003-2501-2270
N. Lund
- Function : Author
T. J. Maccarone
- Function : Author
D. Macera
- Function : Author
D. Maier
- Function : Author
P. Malcovati
- Function : Author
A. Manousakis
- Function : Author
M. Marisaldi
- Function : Author
A. Markowitz
- Function : Author
A. Martindale
- Function : Author
G. Matt
- Function : Author
I. M. Mchardy
- Function : Author
A. Melatos
- Function : Author
M. Mendez
- Function : Author
S. Migliari
- Function : Author
R. Mignani
- Function : Author
M. C. Miller
- Function : Author
J. M. Miller
- Function : Author
T. Mineo
- Function : Author
G. Miniutti
- Function : Author
S. Morsink
- Function : Author
C. Motch
- Function : Author
S. Motta
- Function : Author
F. Muleri
- Function : Author
A. J. Norton
- Function : Author
M. Nowak
- Function : Author
P. O'Brien
- Function : Author
M. Orienti
- Function : Author
M. Orlandini
- Function : Author
P. Orleanski
- Function : Author
J. P. Osborne
- Function : Author
R. Osten
- Function : Author
F. Ozel
- Function : Author
L. Pacciani
- Function : Author
A. Papitto
- Function : Author
E. Perinati
- Function : Author
V. Petracek
- Function : Author
J. Portell
- Function : Author
J. Poutanen
- Function : Author
D. Psaltis
- Function : Author
D. Rambaud
- Function : Author
G. Ramsay
- Function : Author
M. Rapisarda
- Function : Author
A. Rachevski
- Function : Author
P. S. Ray
- Function : Author
N. Rea
- Function : Author
P. Reig
- Function : Author
M. Reina Aranda
- Function : Author
R. Remillard
- Function : Author
C. Reynolds
- Function : Author
P. Rodríguez-Gil
- Function : Author
J. Rodriguez
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 755417
- ORCID : 0000-0001-8812-0565
P. Romano
- Function : Author
E. M. R. Rossi
- Function : Author
F. Ryde
- Function : Author
L. Sabau-Graziati
- Function : Author
A. Sanna
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 764747
- ORCID : 0000-0002-0118-2649
J. Schee
- Function : Author
C. Schmid
- Function : Author
A. Schwenk
- Function : Author
A. D. Schwope
- Function : Author
J. -Y. Seyler
- Function : Author
A. Shearer
- Function : Author
Agnès Smith
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 182802
- IdHAL : agnes-smith
- ORCID : 0000-0003-3779-4310
D. M. Smith
- Function : Author
P. J. Smith
- Function : Author
V. Sochora
- Function : Author
P. Soffitta
- Function : Author
P. Soleri
- Function : Author
B. Stappers
- Function : Author
B. Stelzer
- Function : Author
N. Stergioulas
- Function : Author
G. Stratta
- Function : Author
T. E. Strohmayer
- Function : Author
Z. Stuchlik
- Function : Author
S. Suchy
- Function : Author
V. Sulemainov
- Function : Author
T. Takahashi
- Function : Author
C. Tenzer
- Function : Author
L. Tolos
- Function : Author
G. Torok
- Function : Author
J. M. Torrejon
- Function : Author
D. F. Torres
- Function : Author
A. Tramacere
- Function : Author
A. Trois
- Function : Author
S. Turriziani
- Function : Author
P. Uter
- Function : Author
P. Uttley
- Function : Author
A. Vacchi
- Function : Author
P. Varniere
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 715
- IdHAL : varniere
- ORCID : 0000-0001-8888-5971
- IdRef : 19292415X
S. Vaughan
- Function : Author
S. Vercellone
- Function : Author
V. Vrba
- Function : Author
D. Walton
- Function : Author
S. Watanabe
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 755351
- ORCID : 0000-0002-5820-2102
R. Wawrzaszek
- Function : Author
N. Webb
- Function : Author
N. Weinberg
- Function : Author
H. Wende
- Function : Author
P. Wheatley
- Function : Author
R. Wijers
- Function : Author
R. Wijnands
- Function : Author
M. Wille
- Function : Author
C. A. Wilson-Hodge
- Function : Author
B. Winter
- Function : Author
K. Wood
- Function : Author
G. Zampa
- Function : Author
N. Zampa
- Function : Author
L. Zampieri
- Function : Author
A. Zdziarski
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 765688
- ORCID : 0000-0002-0333-2452
B. Zhang
- Function : Author
Abstract
The LOFT mission concept is one of four candidates selected by ESA for the M3 launch opportunity as Medium Size missions of the Cosmic Vision programme. The launch window is currently planned for between 2022 and 2024. LOFT is designed to exploit the diagnostics of rapid X-ray flux and spectral variability that directly probe the motion of matter down to distances very close to black holes and neutron stars, as well as the physical state of ultra-dense matter. These primary science goals will be addressed by a payload composed of a Large Area Detector (LAD) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM). The LAD is a collimated (<1 degree field of view) experiment operating in the energy range 2-50 keV, with a 10 m^2 peak effective area and an energy resolution of 260 eV at 6 keV. The WFM will operate in the same energy range as the LAD, enabling simultaneous monitoring of a few-steradian wide field of view, with an angular resolution of <5 arcmin. The LAD and WFM experiments will allow us to investigate variability from submillisecond QPO's to year-long transient outbursts. In this paper we report the current status of the project.