Science with the next generation of radio surveys from LOFAR to the SKA

Abstract

Over the next few years the new radio telescopes, such as the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) will greatly enhance our knowledge of the active history of the Universe. Large-area surveys with these new telescopes will no longer be dominated by the powerful active galactic nuclei, but by radio-quiet quasars and star-forming galaxies over all cosmic epochs. Further in the future (~2014) the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will take studies in the radio regime to a whole new level, with the ability to detect neutral hydrogen via the 21 cm transition over the majority of cosmic time. This will enable both the detailed study of individual galaxies and the use of these galaxies as probes Dark Energy. In these proceedings I give an overview of the science goals behind these new radio telescopes, with particular emphasis on galaxy evolution and cosmology. Finally I briefly discuss the SKA science simulation effort.