MUltiplexed Survey Telescope (MUST) science white paper I: Overview of large-scale structure cosmology in the era of Stage-V spectroscopic surveys
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The MUltiplexed Survey Telescope (MUST) is a 6.5-m telescope under development. Dedicated to highly-multiplexed, wide-field spectroscopic surveys, MUST observes over 20000 targets simultaneously using 6.2-mm pitch positioning robots within a ∼5 deg 2 field of view. MUST aims to conduct the first Stage-V spectroscopic survey in the 2030s, mapping the 3D Universe with over 100 million galaxies and quasars, spanning from the nearby Universe to a redshift of z ∼ 5.5, corresponding to approximately 1 billion years after the Big Bang. To cover this extensive redshift range, we present an initial conceptual target-selection algorithm for different types of galaxies, including local bright galaxies, luminous red galaxies, emission-line galaxies, and high-redshift (2 < z < 5.5) Lyman-break galaxies. Using Fisher forecasts, we demonstrate that MUST can address fundamental questions in cosmology, including the nature of dark energy, tests of gravity theories, and investigations into primordial physics. This is the first paper in a series of science white papers for MUST, with subsequent papers focusing on additional scientific cases, including galaxy and quasar evolution, Milky Way physics, and dynamic phenomena in the time-domain Universe.
Authors: Cheng Zhao, Song Huang, Mengfan He, Paulo Montero-Camacho, Yu Liu, Pablo Renard, Yunyi Tang, Aurélien Verdier, Wenshuo Xu, Xiaorui Yang, Jiaxi Yu, Yao Zhang, Siyi Zhao, Xingchen Zhou, Sheng-Yu He, Jean-Paul Kneib, Jiayi Li, Zhuoyang Li, Wen-Ting Wang, Zhong-Zhi Xianyu, Yidian Zhang, Rafaela Gsponer, Xiao-Dong Li, Antoine Rocher, Siwei Zou, Ting Tan, Zhiqi Huang, Zhuoxiao Wang, Pei Li, Maxime Rombach, Chenxing Dong, Daniel Forero-Sánchez, Yuanhang Ning, Huanyuan Shan, Tao Wang, Yin Li, Zhongxu Zhai, Yuting Wang, Gong-Bo Zhao, Yong Shi, Shude Mao, Lei Huang, Liquan Guo, Zheng Cai
Institutions: Tsinghua University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Peng Cheng Laboratory, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, National Astronomical Observatories, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Particle Physics and Cosmology, Sun Yat-sen University, Chinese Academy of Science South America Center for Astronomy, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Paris-Saclay - Etablissement de Saclay, CEA Paris-Saclay, Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l'Univers, Beijing Planetarium, Nanjing University, Beijing Normal University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,590
OpenAlex ID: W4404390402