The Southern Wide-Field Gamma-Ray Observatory: A Next-Generation Ground-Based Survey Instrument for Gamma-Ray Astronomy

A collaboration of scientists across the globe is currently working on research & development for the Southern Wide-Field Gamma-Ray Observatory (SWGO), a next-generation gamma-ray facility to be constructed in South America. SWGO will provide wide field-of-view coverage with a high duty cycle for a large portion of the southern sky and complement observations of existing ground-based survey instruments in the Northern Hemisphere and of the Cherenkov Telescope Array which is scheduled to begin science operation in the mid-twenties. Recent discoveries by HAWC and LHAASO such as gamma-ray halos associated with pulsars, >30 TeV gamma-ray emission from binary systems, tens of PeVatron candidates, and multi-TeV gamma-ray emission from a GRB underscore the need for a facility like SWGO in the Southern Hemisphere. In my talk, I will present the driving science goals of the project, as well as its status and timeline, including progress made toward selection of a suitable observatory site and detector design.