Science Case
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and its associated pathfinder facilities will be premier astronomical facilities in the next decade and beyond, working alongside facilities such as ALMA, JWST and the next generation of giant optical telescopes. The SKA will be capable of peering into the distant past, studying the origin of the first stars and galaxies, studying the clustering and evolution of galaxies, making precise measurements of dark energy at different epochs, making exquisitely precise measurements of Einstein's theory of General Relativity, and studying the formation of planets around stars.
Building these expensive instruments (the SKA budget is likely to be A$1.8 billion) requires the development of new technologies including new electromagnetic array designs, digital signal processing and photonics, as well as new imaging and calibration techniques. Furthermore, telescope design and optimisation requires deep insights into the science requirements of key astrophysical observations.
This conference is timely due to the extensive development, planning and construction now occurring for a number of major SKA pathfinder projects such as ASKAP, ATA, FAST, LOFAR, LWA, MeerKAT and the MWA, as well as pathfinder-class upgrades to existing facilities, such as those facilitated by the APERTIF, EMBRACE, eMERLIN, eVLA, SKAMP and 2-PAD projects. Collectively, if correctly coordinated via collaborations such as CONRAD, PREPSKA, SKADS etc, these projects will be of tremendous value in assisting the further design and development of the SKA.
The primary topics to be addressed in this conference are:
- the potential of international SKA pathfinders to address key questions in astrophysics using deep wide-field radio surveys of the Universe;
- the current state of observations and theoretical models responsible for defining pathfinder science goals;
- synergies of radio surveys with planned and possible future ground- and space-based surveys across a broad range of wavelengths; and
- technological challenges, such as widefield imaging, associated with the new pathfinders.