ESA Voyage 2050 white paper — GrailQuest: hunting for Atoms of Space and Time hidden in the wrinkle of Space-Time. (arXiv:1911.02154v1 [astro-ph.IM])
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GrailQuest (Gamma-ray Astronomy International Laboratory for Quantum
Exploration of Space-Time) is an ambitious astrophysical mission concept that
uses a fleet of small satellites, whose scientific objectives are discussed
below. Within Quantum Gravity theories, different models for space-time
quantisation predict an energy dependent speed for photons. Although the
predicted discrepancies are minuscule, Gamma-Ray Bursts, occurring at
cosmological distances, could be used to detect this signature of space-time
granularity with a new concept of modular observatory of huge overall
collecting area consisting in a fleet of small satellites in low orbits, with
sub-microsecond time resolution and wide energy band (keV-MeV). The enormous
number of collected photons will allow to effectively search these energy
dependent delays. Moreover, GrailQuest will allow to perform temporal
triangulation of high signal-to-noise impulsive events with arc-second
positional accuracies: an extraordinary sensitive X-ray/Gamma all-sky monitor
crucial for hunting the elusive electromagnetic counterparts of Gravitational
Waves. A pathfinder of GrailQuest is already under development through the
HERMES (High Energy Rapid Modular Ensemble of Satellites) project: a fleet of
six 3U cube-sats to be launched by the end of 2021.

GrailQuest (Gamma-ray Astronomy International Laboratory for Quantum
Exploration of Space-Time) is an ambitious astrophysical mission concept that
uses a fleet of small satellites, whose scientific objectives are discussed
below. Within Quantum Gravity theories, different models for space-time
quantisation predict an energy dependent speed for photons. Although the
predicted discrepancies are minuscule, Gamma-Ray Bursts, occurring at
cosmological distances, could be used to detect this signature of space-time
granularity with a new concept of modular observatory of huge overall
collecting area consisting in a fleet of small satellites in low orbits, with
sub-microsecond time resolution and wide energy band (keV-MeV). The enormous
number of collected photons will allow to effectively search these energy
dependent delays. Moreover, GrailQuest will allow to perform temporal
triangulation of high signal-to-noise impulsive events with arc-second
positional accuracies: an extraordinary sensitive X-ray/Gamma all-sky monitor
crucial for hunting the elusive electromagnetic counterparts of Gravitational
Waves. A pathfinder of GrailQuest is already under development through the
HERMES (High Energy Rapid Modular Ensemble of Satellites) project: a fleet of
six 3U cube-sats to be launched by the end of 2021.

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