The Simons Observatory: science goals and forecasts for the enhanced large aperture telescope

Abitbol, M.; Abril-Cabezas, I.; Adachi, S.; Ade, P.; Adler, A. E.; Agrawal, P.; Aguirre, J.; Ahmed, Z.; Aiola, S.; Alford, T.; Ali, A.; Alonso, D.; Alvarez, M. A.; An, R.; Arnold, K.; Ashton, P.; Atkins, Z.; Austermann, J.; Azzoni, S.; Baccigalupi, C.; Baleato Lizancos, A.; Barron, D.; Barry, P.; Bartlett, J.; Battaglia, N.; Battye, R.; Baxter, E.; Bazarko, A.; Beall, J. A.; Bean, R.; Beck, D.; Beckman, S.; Begin, J.; Beheshti, A.; Beringue, B.; Bhandarkar, T.; Bhimani, S.; Bianchini, F.; Biermann, E.; Biquard, S.; Bixler, B.; Boada, S.; Boettger, D.; Bolliet, B.; Bond, J. R.; Borrill, J.; Borrow, J.; Braithwaite, C.; Brien, T. L. R.; Brown, M. L.; Bruno, S. M.; Bryan, S.; Bustos, R.; Cai, H.; Calabrese, E.; Calafut, V.; Carl, F. M.; Carones, A.; Carron, J.; Challinor, A.; Chanial, P.; Chen, N.; Cheung, K.; Chiang, B.; Chinone, Y.; Chluba, J.; Cho, H. S.; Choi, S. K.; Chu, M.; Clancy, J.; Clark, S. E.; Clarke, P.; Cleary, J.; Clements, D. L.; Connors, J.; Contaldi, C.; Coppi, G.; Corbett, L.; Cothard, N. F.; Coulton, W.; Crowley, K. D.; Crowley, K. T.; Cukierman, A.; D'Ewart, J. M.; Dachlythra, K.; Datta, R.; Day-Weiss, S.; De Haan, T.; Devlin, M.; Di Mascolo, L.; Dicker, S.; Dober, B.; Doux, C.; Dow, P.; Doyle, S.; Duell, C. J.; Duff, S. M.; Duivenvoorden, A. J.; Dunkley, J.; Dutcher, D.; Dünner, R.; Edenton, M.; El Bouhargani, H.; Errard, J.; Fabbian, G.; Fanfani, V.; Farren, G. S.; Fergusson, J.; Ferraro, S.; Flauger, R.; Foster, A.; Freese, K.; Frisch, J. C.; Frolov, A.; Fuller, G.; Galitzki, N.; Gallardo, P. A.; Galvez Ghersi, J. T.; Ganga, K.; Gao, J.; Garrido, X.; Gawiser, E.; Gerbino, M.; Gerras, R.; Giardiello, S.; Gill, A.; Gilles, V.; Giri, U.; Gleave, E.; Gluscevic, V.; Goeckner-Wald, N.; Golec, J. E.; Gordon, S.; Gralla, M.; Gratton, S.; Green, D.; Groh, J. C.; Groppi, C.; Guan, Y.; Gupta, N.; Gudmundsson, J. E.; Hagstotz, S.; Hargrave, P.; Haridas, S.; Harrington, K.; Harrison, I.; Hasegawa, M.; Hasselfield, M.; Haynes, V.; Hazumi, M.; He, A.; Healy, E.; Henderson, S. W.; Hensley, B. S.; Hertig, E.; Hervías-Caimapo, C.; Higuchi, M.; Hill, C. A.; Hill, J. C.; Hilton, G.; Hilton, M.; Hincks, A. D.; Hinshaw, G.; Hložek, R.; A. Y. Q., Ho; Ho, S.; S. P., Ho; Hoang, T. D.; Hoh, J.; Hornecker, E.; Hornsby, A. L.; Hotinli, S. C.; Huang, Z.; Huber, Z. B.; Hubmayr, J.; Huffenberger, K.; Hughes, J. P.; Idicherian Lonappan, A.; Ikape, M.; Irwin, K.; Iuliano, J.; Jaffe, A. H.; Jain, B.; Jense, H. T.; Jeong, O.; Johnson, A.; Johnson, B. R.; Johnson, M.; Jones, M.; Jost, B.; Kaneko, D.; Karpel, E. D.; Kasai, Y.; Katayama, N.; Keating, B.; Keller, B.; Keskitalo, R.; Kim, J.; Kisner, T.; Kiuchi, K.; Klein, J.; Knowles, K.; Kofman, A. M.; Koopman, B. J.; Kosowsky, A.; Kou, R.; Krachmalnicoff, N.; Kramer, D.; Krishak, A.; Krolewski, A.; Kusaka, A.; Kusiak, A.; La Plante, P.; La Posta, A.; Laguë, A.; Lashner, J.; Lattanzi, M.; Lee, A.; Lee, E.; Leech, J.; Lessler, C.; Leung, J. S.; Lewis, A.; Li, Y.; Li, Z.; Limon, M.; Lin, L.; Link, M.; Liu, J.; Liu, Y.; Lonergan, J.; Louis, T.; Lucas, T.; Ludlam, M.; Lungu, M.; Lyons, M.; Maccrann, N.; Macinnis, A.; Madhavacheril, M.; Mak, D.; Maldonado, F.; Mallaby-Kay, M.; Manduca, A.; Mangu, A.; Mani, H.; Maniyar, A. S.; Marques, G. A.; Mates, J.; Matsumura, T.; Mauskopf, P.; May, A.; Mccallum, N.; Mccarrick, H.; Mccarthy, F.; Mcculloch, M.; Mcmahon, J.; Meerburg, P. D.; Mehta, Y.; Melin, J.; Meyers, J.; Middleton, A.; Miller, A.; Mirmelstein, M.; Moodley, K.; Moore, J.; Morshed, M.; Morton, T.; Moser, E.; Mroczkowski, T.; Murata, M.; Münchmeyer, M.; Naess, S.; Nakata, H.; Namikawa, T.; Nashimoto, M.; Nati, F.; Natoli, P.; Negrello, M.; Nerval, S. K.; Newburgh, L.; Nguyen, D. V.; Nicola, A.; Niemack, M. D.; Nishino, H.; Nishinomiya, Y.; Orlando, A.; Orlowski-Scherer, J.; Pagano, L.; Page, L. A.; Pandey, S.; Papageorgiou, A.; Paraskevakos, I.; Partridge, B.; Patki, R.; Peel, M.; Perez Sarmiento, K.; Perrotta, F.; Phakathi, P.; Piccirillo, L.; Pierpaoli, E.; Pinsonneault-Marotte, T.; Pisano, G.; Poletti, D.; Puddu, R.; Puglisi, G.; F. J., Qu; Randall, M. J.; Ranucci, C.; Raum, C.; Reeves, R.; Reichardt, C. L.; Remazeilles, M.; Rephaeli, Y.; Riechers, D.; Robe, J.; Robertson, M. F.; Robertson, N.; Rogers, K.; Rojas, F.; Romero, A.; Rosenberg, E.; Rotti, A.; Rowe, S.; Roy, A.; Sadeh, S.; Sailer, N.; Sakaguri, K.; Sakuma, T.; Sakurai, Y.; Salatino, M.; Sanders, G. H.; Sasaki, D.; Sathyanarayana Rao, M.; Satterthwaite, T. P.; Saunders, L.; Scalcinati, L.; Schaan, E.; Schmitt, B.; Schmittfull, M.; Sehgal, N.; Seibert, J.; Seino, Y.; Seljak, U.; Shaikh, S.; Shaw, E.; Shellard, P.; Sherwin, B.; Shimon, M.; Shroyer, J. E.; Sierra, C.; Sievers, J.; Sifón, C.; Sikhosana, P.; Silva-Feaver, M.; Simon, S. M.; Sinclair, A.; Smith, K.; Sohn, W.; Song, X.; Sonka, R. F.; Spergel, D.; Spisak, J.; Staggs, S. T.; Stein, G.; Stevens, J. R.; Stompor, R.; Storer, E.; Sudiwala, R.; Sugiyama, J.; Surrao, K. M.; Sutariya, S.; Suzuki, A.; Suzuki, J.; Tajima, O.; Takakura, S.; Takeuchi, A.; Tansieri, I.; Taylor, A. C.; Teply, G.; Terasaki, T.; Thomas, A.; Thomas, D. B.; Thornton, R.; Trac, H.; Tsan, T.; Tsang King Sang, E.; Tucker, C.; Ullom, J.; Vacher, L.; Vale, L.; Van Engelen, A.; Van Lanen, J.; Van Marrewijk, J.; Van Winkle, D. D.; Vargas, C.; Vavagiakis, E. M.; Veenendaal, I.; Vergès, C.; Vissers, M.; Viña, M.; Wagoner, K.; Walker, S.; Walters, L.; Wang, Y.; Westbrook, B.; Williams, J.; Williams, P.; Winch, H.; Wollack, E. J.; Wolz, K.; Wong, J.; Xu, Z.; Yamada, K.; Young, E.; Yu, B.; Yu, C.; Zannoni, M.; Zheng, K.; Zhu, N.; Zonca, A.; Zubeldia, I.; Null, Null

doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2025/08/034

We describe updated scientific goals for the wide-field, millimeter-wave survey that will be produced by the Simons Observatory (SO). Significant upgrades to the 6-meter SO Large Aperture Telescope (LAT) are expected to be complete by 2028, and will include a doubled mapping speed with 30,000 new detectors and an automated data reduction pipeline. In addition, a new photovoltaic array will supply most of the observatory’s power. The LAT survey will cover about 60% of the sky at a regular observing cadence, with five times the angular resolution and ten times the map depth of the Planck satellite. The science goals are to: (1) determine the physical conditions in the early universe and constrain the existence of new light particles; (2) measure the integrated distribution of mass, electron pressure, and electron momentum in the late-time universe, and, in combination with optical surveys, determine the neutrino mass and the effects of dark energy via tomographic measurements of the growth of structure at redshifts z ≲ 3; (3) measure the distribution of electron density and pressure around galaxy groups and clusters, and calibrate the effects of energy input from galaxy formation on the surrounding environment; (4) produce a sample of more than 30,000 galaxy clusters, and more than 100,000 extragalactic millimeter sources, including regularly sampled AGN light-curves, to study these sources and their emission physics; (5) measure the polarized emission from magnetically aligned dust grains in our Galaxy, to study the properties of dust and the role of magnetic fields in star formation; (6) constrain asteroid regoliths, search for Trans-Neptunian Objects, and either detect or eliminate large portions of the phase space in the search for Planet 9; and (7) provide a powerful new window into the transient universe on time scales of minutes to years, concurrent with observations from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory of overlapping sky.

The Simons Observatory: science goals and forecasts for the enhanced large aperture telescope / Abitbol, M., Abril-Cabezas, I., Adachi, S., Ade, P., Adler, A.E., Agrawal, P., Aguirre, J., Ahmed, Z., Aiola, S., Alford, T., Ali, A., Alonso, D., Alvarez, M.A., An, R., Arnold, K., Ashton, P., Atkins, Z., Austermann, J., Azzoni, S., Baccigalupi, C., et al.. - In: JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS. - ISSN 1475-7516. - 2025:08(2025), pp. 1-44. [10.1088/1475-7516/2025/08/034]