The Square Kilometer Array: cosmology, pulsars and other physics with the SKA

TL;DR

The SKA radio telescope array will revolutionize cosmology and astrophysics by enabling detailed studies of the early universe, dark matter, and gravitational waves through unprecedented sensitivity and survey speed.

Contribution

This paper introduces the SKA as a groundbreaking instrument capable of probing the universe's dark ages, mapping high-redshift galaxies, and detecting pulsars for gravitational wave research.

Findings

SKA will detect billions of galaxies up to redshift 2

It will discover and monitor around 20,000 pulsars in the Milky Way

SKA will enable tests of gravity and general relativity using pulsar timing

Abstract

SKA is a new technology radio-telescope array, about two orders of magnitude more sensitive and rapid in sky surveys than present instruments. It will probe the dark age of the universe, just afer recombination, and during the epoch of reionisation (z=6-15); it will be the unique instrument to map the atomic gas in high redshift galaxies, and determine the amount and distribution of dark matter in the early universe. Not only it will detect and measure the redshifts of billions of galaxies up to z=2, but also it will discover and monitor around 20 000 pulsars in our Milky Way. The timing of pulsars will trace the stretching of space, able to detect gravitational waves. Binary pulsars will help to test gravity in strong fields, and probe general relativity. These exciting perspectives will become real beyond 2020.