Prospects for Time-Domain and Multi-Messenger Science with AXIS

TL;DR

AXIS is a highly capable X-ray observatory designed to revolutionize time-domain and multi-messenger astrophysics by detecting and studying transient phenomena with high sensitivity, excellent resolution, and rapid response.

Contribution

This paper outlines the scientific potential and capabilities of AXIS for advancing time-domain and multi-messenger astrophysics, emphasizing its unique features and discovery prospects.

Findings

AXIS will detect a wide range of X-ray transients.

It will enable localization of faint X-ray sources for multi-messenger follow-up.

The observatory's rapid response will facilitate studies of gravitational wave and neutrino sources.

Abstract

The Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS) promises revolutionary science in the X-ray and multi-messenger time domain. AXIS will leverage excellent spatial resolution (<1.5 arcsec), sensitivity (80x that of Swift), and a large collecting area (5-10x that of Chandra) across a 24-arcmin diameter field of view to discover and characterize a wide range of X-ray transients from supernova-shock breakouts to tidal disruption events to highly variable supermassive black holes. The observatory's ability to localize and monitor faint X-ray sources opens up new opportunities to hunt for counterparts to distant binary neutron star mergers, fast radio bursts, and exotic phenomena like fast X-ray transients. AXIS will offer a response time of <2 hours to community alerts, enabling studies of gravitational wave sources, high-energy neutrino emitters, X-ray binaries, magnetars, and other targets of opportunity. This white paper highlights some of the discovery science that will be driven by AXIS in this burgeoning field of time domain and multi-messenger astrophysics.