Synergy between the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and the Square Kilometre Array

TL;DR

This paper discusses the scientific advantages of integrating data from the LSST and SKA telescopes, highlighting improvements in cosmology, galaxy evolution, and time-domain astronomy through their combined capabilities.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of how joint analysis of LSST and SKA data can enhance understanding of cosmological acceleration, galaxy evolution, and transient phenomena.

Findings

Combined data improves constraints on cosmological acceleration.

Optical and radio data synergy benefits galaxy evolution studies.

Temporal coordination enhances transient event detection.

Abstract

We provide an overview of the science benefits of combining information from the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). We first summarise the capabilities and timeline of the LSST and overview its science goals. We then discuss the science questions in common between the two projects, and how they can be best addressed by combining the data from both telescopes. We describe how weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clustering studies with LSST and SKA can provide improved constraints on the causes of the cosmological acceleration. We summarise the benefits to galaxy evolution studies of combining deep optical multi-band imaging with radio observations. Finally, we discuss the excellent match between one of the most unique features of the LSST, its temporal cadence in the optical waveband, and the time resolution of the SKA.