The Spectroscopic Stage-5 Experiment

The existence, properties, and dynamics of the dark sectors of our universe pose fundamental challenges to our current model of physics, and large-scale astronomical surveys may be our only hope to unravel these long-standing mysteries. In this white paper, we describe the science motivation, instrumentation, and survey plan for the next-generation spectroscopic observatory, the Stage-5 Spectroscopic Experiment (Spec-S5). Spec-S5 is a new all-sky spectroscopic instrument optimized to efficiently carry out cosmological surveys of unprecedented scale and precision. The baseline plan for Spec-S5 involves upgrading two existing 4-m telescopes to new 6-m wide-field facilities, each with a highly multiplexed spectroscopic instrument capable of simultaneously measuring the spectra of 13,000 astronomical targets. Spec-S5, which builds and improves on the hardware used for previous cosmology experiments, represents a cost-effective and rapid approach to realizing a more than 10$\times$ gain in spectroscopic capability compared to the current state-of-the-art represented by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument project (DESI). Spec-S5 will provide a critical scientific capability in the post-Rubin and post-DESI era for advancing cosmology, fundamental physics, and astrophysics in the 2030s.

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Journal
ArXiv.org
Published
2025-03-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2503.07923
Primary Topic
Spectroscopy and Laser Applications
Type
article

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article

The Spectroscopic Stage-5 Experiment

D. Kirkby, Smriti Panda, K. Boutsia, Will J. Percival et al.
ArXiv.org
Spectroscopy and Laser Applications
article

The Spectroscopic Stage-5 Experiment

D. Kirkby, Smriti Panda, K. Boutsia, Will J. Percival, Moritz Münchmeyer, Jean‐Paul Kneib, Dustin Lang, Rongpu Zhou, Brandon Roach, Paul Martini, Kenneth W. Lin, J. L. Marshall, K. Hashemi, S. Juneau, Ting S. Li, Robert J. Stupak, Matthew Lewandowski, A. Walker, J. Frieman, R. Avilés, Santiago Avila, Stephen J. Bailey, Steve Heathcote, Andreu Font-Ribera, Christophe Yèche, Marilena Loverde, David J. Schlegel, Parker Fagrelius, A. Bault, Alex Krolewski, Malak Galal, Haruki Ebina, Luke Tyas, M. E. Levi, E. Krause, S. Escoffier, Jiamin Hou, Eric Jullo, Gaston Gutierrez, O. Lahav, Eusebio Sanchez, Claire Juramy, Oliver H. E. Philcox, Eva Silverstein, Ashley J. Ross, Alexie Leauthaud, Martin J. White, Joseph Harry Silber, Joan Najita, William R. Coulton, J. E. Forero-Romero, Biprateep Dey, Chris Stone, Dragan Huterer A, Mohamed Bouri, Patrick D. Dunlop, John Moustakas, Uroš Seljak, Claire Poppett, Sheila MacBride, Patrick McDonald, Richard Joyce, Christophe Magneville, Rebekah A. Sebok, Yuanyuan Zhang, Jessica R. Lu, Daniel Green, M. A. Ivanov, Steve Holland, Jeff Newman, Priscila Pires, Olivier Doré, Guillermo Fernandez Moroni, Michael Schubnell, Timothy N. Miller, Julien Guy, Simone Ferraro, Stephen Kent, Alex Drlica-Wagner, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Robert Besuner, J. Estrada, Klaus Honscheid, Arman Shafieloo, Constance M. Rockosi, Anand Raichoor, Maxime Rombach, Armin Karcher, Kyle S. Dawson, Adam Myers, Arjun Dey, E. Burtin, Kevin Fanning, Shadab Alam, Pat Jelinsky, Nicholas R. Wenner, Timothy Fanning
article en

Abstract

The existence, properties, and dynamics of the dark sectors of our universe pose fundamental challenges to our current model of physics, and large-scale astronomical surveys may be our only hope to unravel these long-standing mysteries. In this white paper, we describe the science motivation, instrumentation, and survey plan for the next-generation spectroscopic observatory, the Stage-5 Spectroscopic Experiment (Spec-S5). Spec-S5 is a new all-sky spectroscopic instrument optimized to efficiently carry out cosmological surveys of unprecedented scale and precision. The baseline plan for Spec-S5 involves upgrading two existing 4-m telescopes to new 6-m wide-field facilities, each with a highly multiplexed spectroscopic instrument capable of simultaneously measuring the spectra of 13,000 astronomical targets. Spec-S5, which builds and improves on the hardware used for previous cosmology experiments, represents a cost-effective and rapid approach to realizing a more than 10$\times$ gain in spectroscopic capability compared to the current state-of-the-art represented by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument project (DESI). Spec-S5 will provide a critical scientific capability in the post-Rubin and post-DESI era for advancing cosmology, fundamental physics, and astrophysics in the 2030s.

ArXiv.org
University of Wisconsin System (US), Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (US), Harvard University (US), North Carolina State University (US), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR), University of Waterloo (CA), Perimeter Institute (CA), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), Institute for High Energy Physics (ES), University of Milan (IT), Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KR), California Southern University (US), Regional Municipality of Waterloo (CA), Mount Stromlo Observatory (AU), Department of Space (IN), University of California San Diego (US), National Solar Observatory (US), Centre de physique des particules de Marseille (FR), Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille (FR), Korean Association for the Study of Intestinal Diseases (KR), Stanford Health Care (US), Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies (FR), Michigan United (US), Astrobiology Center (JP), Wyoming Department of Education (US), Unidades Centrales Científico-Técnicas (ES), Gemini South Observatory (CL), Florida Department of State (US), Stanford Medicine (US), UC Irvine Health (US), Lawrence Livermore National Security (US), Mylan (Switzerland) (CH), Flatiron Health (United States) (US), Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (FR), Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (ES), State Library of Ohio (US), Flatiron Institute (US), University College London (GB), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH), Universidad Nacional del Sur (AR), Seattle University (US), Carnegie Mellon University (US), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX), Siena College (US), Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (NL), University of California, Berkeley (US), Stanford University (US)
China Scholarship Council
Spectroscopy and Laser Applications
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