SCIENCE WITH THE HARD X-RAY MODULATION TELESCOPE

Abstract

The hard X-ray modulation telescope (HXMT) is a slat-collimated instrument sensitive in the 1–250 keV energy band. It will use the direct demodulation technique to conduct an all sky imaging survey with both high sensitivity and high spatial resolution. The moderate field of view also allows for sensitive spectroscopic and timing observations of bright sources in the pointed mode. The wide energy coverage and large collecting area in the hard X-ray band (nearly 5000 cm2 effective area at 30–100 keV) make HXMT a unique instrument for some scientific goals. Here we give brief discussion about scientific objectives that can be addressed with HXMT, involving black holes at a variety of scales and equations of states of matter at extreme conditions.