Why “Key Science”?

The LOFAR project “Cosmic Magnetism” aims to investigate fundamental astrophysical questions on the distribution of magnetic fields in the Universe which may help to understand the origin of cosmic magnetism. The project makes use of the LOFAR capacity to detect linear polarisation and hence widens the horizon of the instrument. Polarisation calibration is an instrumental challenge and requires dedicated software, which is under development by the project team.