Abstract
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA, www.skatelescope.org) will be the major radio telescope for the 21st century, with more than fifty times the sensitivity of any existing facility. The SKA concept is currently under development by a consortium of 16 countries, with operations expected to begin in 2015–2020. Vigorous technological developments in computing and antenna design make such a telescope possible. Operating between 100 MHz and 25 GHz, the SKA will probe fundamental physics, the origin and evolution of the Universe, the structure of the Milky Way Galaxy, and the formation and distribution of planets. Cosmic magnetism has been identified as one the five SKA key science projects. The evolution, structure and origin of magnetic fields are fundamental and unsolved problems in physics and astrophysics. The SKA will carry out an all-sky survey of rotation measures, in which Faraday rotation toward more than 10 background sources will provide a dense “rotation measure grid” for probing magnetism in the Milky Way, nearby galaxies, in distant galaxies, clusters and protogalaxies. Using these data, we can map out the evolution of magnetized structures from redshifts z > 5 to the present, and can thus reveal what cosmic magnets look like, how they formed, and what role they have played in the evolving Universe. With SKA’s unprecedented capabilities, the window to the Magnetic Universe can finally be opened.
Published Version
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