Kavli Affiliate: Melania Nynka
| First 5 Authors: Stephen Reynolds, Hongjun An, Moaz Abdelmaguid, Jason Alford, Chris L. Fryer
| Summary:
HEX-P is a probe-class mission concept that will combine high spatial
resolution X-ray imaging ($<10"$ full width at half maximum) and broad spectral
coverage (0.2–80 keV) with an effective area far superior to current
facilities (including XMM-Newton and NuSTAR) to enable revolutionary new
insights into a variety of important astrophysical problems. HEX-P is ideally
suited to address important problems in the physics and astrophysics of
supernova remnants (SNRs) and pulsar-wind nebulae (PWNe). For shell SNRs, HEX-P
can greatly improve our understanding via more accurate spectral
characterization and localization of non-thermal X-ray emission from both
non-thermal-dominated SNRs and those containing both thermal and non-thermal
components, and can discover previously unknown non-thermal components in SNRs.
Multi-epoch HEX-P observations of several young SNRs (e.g., Cas A and Tycho)
are expected to detect year-scale variabilities of X-ray filaments and knots,
thus enabling us to determine fundamental parameters related to diffusive shock
acceleration, such as local magnetic field strengths and maximum electron
energies. For PWNe, HEX-P will provide spatially-resolved, broadband X-ray
spectral data separately from their pulsar emission, allowing us to study how
particle acceleration, cooling, and propagation operate in different evolution
stages of PWNe. HEX-P is also poised to make unique and significant
contributions to nuclear astrophysics of Galactic radioactive sources by
improving detections of, or limits on, $^{44}$Ti in the youngest SNRs and by
potentially discovering rare nuclear lines as evidence of double neutron star
mergers. Throughout the paper, we present simulations of each class of objects,
demonstrating the power of both the imaging and spectral capabilities of HEX-P
to advance our knowledge of SNRs, PWNe, and nuclear astrophysics.
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