Korea Microlensing Telescope Network: Science cases

We present the science cases with the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) which consists of three widefield 1.6 m telescopes distributed in Chile, South Africa, and Australia, respectively, providing unique continuous sky coverage with the three telescopes. The primary scientific goal of the KMTNet project is to explore the structure and diversity of planetary systems and variable objects. Since the system is mainly optimized to conduct gravitational microlensing surveys, it will enable detections of very low-mass exoplanets, potentially down to the mass of Mars that are inaccessible by other ground-based techniques. In addition to the primary science, it is possible to conduct a variety of other observational programs with the KMTNet system, including photometric studies of nearby galaxies and galaxy clusters, discovery of supernovae and their follow-up observations, and observations of near-Earth objects. We expect synergies between the KMTNet project with other similar or complementary projects in the southern sky, such as SkyMapper.