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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Astron. Space Sci.
Sec. High-Energy and Astroparticle Physics
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspas.2024.1471585
This article is part of the Research Topic High-Energy Astrophysics Research Enabled By The Probe-Class Mission Concept HEX-P View all 17 articles

The High Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P): Science Overview

Provisionally accepted
Javier A. García Javier A. García 1*Daniel Stern Daniel Stern 2Kristin Madsen Kristin Madsen 1Miles Smith Miles Smith 2Brian Grefenstette Brian Grefenstette 3Marco Ajello Marco Ajello 4Jason Alford Jason Alford 5Adlyka Annuar Adlyka Annuar 6Matteo Bachetti Matteo Bachetti 7Mislav Balokovi Mislav Balokovi 8Ricarda S Beckmann Ricarda S Beckmann 9Stefano Bianchi Stefano Bianchi 10Daniela Biccari Daniela Biccari 2Peter Boorman Peter Boorman 3Murray Brightman Murray Brightman 3Johannes Buchner Johannes Buchner 11Esra Bulbul Esra Bulbul 11Chien-Ting Chen Chien-Ting Chen 12Francesca M Civano Francesca M Civano 1Joel Coley Joel Coley 13Riley Connors Riley Connors 14Melania Del Santo Melania Del Santo 15Laura Di Gesu Laura Di Gesu 16Paul Draghis Paul Draghis 17P Chris Fragile P Chris Fragile 18Andrés Gúrpide Andrés Gúrpide 19Manuele Gangi Manuele Gangi 16Suvi Gezari Suvi Gezari 20Fiona Harrison Fiona Harrison 3Elias Kammoun Elias Kammoun 10Giorgio Lanzuisi Giorgio Lanzuisi 21Bret Lehmer Bret Lehmer 22Anne Lohfink Anne Lohfink 23Renee Ludlam Renee Ludlam 24Stefano Marchesi Stefano Marchesi 4Lea Marcotulli Lea Marcotulli 8Raffaella Margutti Raffaella Margutti 25Megan Masterson Megan Masterson 17Andrea Merloni Andrea Merloni 11Matthew Middleton Matthew Middleton 19Kaya Mori Kaya Mori 26Alberto Moretti Alberto Moretti 27Kirpal Nandra Kirpal Nandra 11Kerstin Perez Kerstin Perez 26Ryan W Pfeiffle Ryan W Pfeiffle 1Ciro Pinto Ciro Pinto 15Joanna Piotrowska Joanna Piotrowska 3Gabriele Ponti Gabriele Ponti 27Katja Pottschmidt Katja Pottschmidt 1Peter Predehl Peter Predehl 11Simonetta Puccetti Simonetta Puccetti 16Arne Rau Arne Rau 11Stephen Reynolds Stephen Reynolds 28Andrea Santangelo Andrea Santangelo 29Daniele Spiga Daniele Spiga 27John Tomsick John Tomsick 25Núria Torres-Albà Núria Torres-Albà 4Dominic Walton Dominic Walton 30Dan Wilkins Dan Wilkins 31Joern Wilms Joern Wilms 32Will Zhang Will Zhang 1Xiurui Zhao Xiurui Zhao 33
  • 1 Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, United States
  • 2 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States
  • 3 California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, United States
  • 4 Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States
  • 5 New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
  • 6 Universiti Kebangsaan Malasya, Sengalor, Malaysia
  • 7 Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari (INAF), Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
  • 8 Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
  • 9 University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
  • 10 Roma Tre University, Rome, Lazio, Italy
  • 11 Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching bei München, Germany
  • 12 NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, AL 35812,, United States
  • 13 Howard University, Washington, D.C., United States
  • 14 Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States
  • 15 Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo (INAF), Palermo, Sicily, Italy
  • 16 Italian Space Agency (ASI), Rome, Lazio, Italy
  • 17 MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, School of Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
  • 18 College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, United States
  • 19 University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom
  • 20 Space Telescope Science Institute (NASA), Baltimore, Maryland, United States
  • 21 Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna (INAF), Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
  • 22 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States
  • 23 Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, United States
  • 24 Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States
  • 25 University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States
  • 26 Columbia University, New York City, New York, United States
  • 27 Brera Astronomical Observatory, Milan, Lombardy, Italy
  • 28 North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
  • 29 University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
  • 30 University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Herefordshire, United Kingdom
  • 31 Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States
  • 32 University of Erlangen Nuremberg, Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany
  • 33 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    To answer NASA's call for a sensitive X-ray observatory in the 2030s, we present the High Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P) mission concept. HEX-P is designed to provide the required capabilities to explore current scientific questions and make new discoveries with a broadband 1 García et al.X-ray observatory that simultaneously measures sources from 0.2 to 80 keV. HEX-P's main scientific goals include: (1) understand the growth of supermassive black holes and how they drive galaxy evolution; (2) explore the lower mass populations of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and stellar-mass black holes in the nearby universe; (3) explain the physics of the mysterious corona, the luminous plasma close to the central engine of accreting compact objects that dominates cosmic X-ray emission; and (4) find the sources of the highest energy particles in the Galaxy.These goals motivate a sensitive, broadband X-ray observatory with imaging, spectroscopic, and timing capabilities, ensuring a versatile platform to serve a broad General Observer (GO) and Guest Investigator (GI) community. In this paper, we present an overview of these mission goals, which have been extensively discussed in a collection of more than a dozen papers that are part of this Research Topic volume. The proposed investigations will address key questions in all three science themes highlighted by Astro2020, including their associated priority areas. HEX-P will extend the capabilities of the most sensitive low-and high-energy X-ray satellites currently in orbit and will complement existing and planned high-energy, time-domain, and multi-messenger facilities in the next decade.

    Keywords: x-ray, HEX-P, mission science, NASA, black holes, Supernova, AGN, Neutron stars - general

    Received: 27 Jul 2024; Accepted: 07 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 García, Stern, Madsen, Smith, Grefenstette, Ajello, Alford, Annuar, Bachetti, Balokovi, Beckmann, Bianchi, Biccari, Boorman, Brightman, Buchner, Bulbul, Chen, Civano, Coley, Connors, Del Santo, Gesu, Draghis, Fragile, Gúrpide, Gangi, Gezari, Harrison, Kammoun, Lanzuisi, Lehmer, Lohfink, Ludlam, Marchesi, Marcotulli, Margutti, Masterson, Merloni, Middleton, Mori, Moretti, Nandra, Perez, Pfeiffle, Pinto, Piotrowska, Ponti, Pottschmidt, Predehl, Puccetti, Rau, Reynolds, Santangelo, Spiga, Tomsick, Torres-Albà, Walton, Wilkins, Wilms, Zhang and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Javier A. García, Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.