XEUS: the physics of the hot evolving universe

Abstract

This paper describes the next generation X-ray observatory XEUS which has been submitted to the European Space Agency in the framework of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 competition and has been selected for an assessment study. The paper summarizes the scientific goals and instrumental concepts of the proposed X-ray telescope with 5 m 2 effective area and angular resolution better than 5 arc sec.