Low-Surface Brightness research in the Next Era of Astronomy

The new generation of all-sky surveys is pushing the observational frontier into the low-surface-brightness (LSB) regime, where the most sensitive diagnostics of galaxy mass assembly across environments are found. Tracing these faint structures provides stringent constraints on galaxy formation within the Λ-cold dark matter paradigm. Over the past two decades, deep imaging and spectroscopic campaigns—including extensive programs at ESO-VLT—have significantly advanced the study of galaxy assembly in diverse environments. These efforts have enabled detailed analyses of light and color distributions, kinematics, and stellar populations of galaxies, complemented by discrete tracers such as globular clusters and planetary nebulae, extending into stellar halos and intra-group/cluster regions. In this talk, I will provide a concise overview of: - the current state of the art in LSB research, with a focus on the formation and evolution of intra-cluster light (ICL), the growth of stellar halos in massive galaxies, and the structure and origin of extreme LSB systems such as ultra-diffuse galaxies; - the pivotal role of ESO-VLT in achieving major breakthroughs in this field; - which are the requirements for future instrumentation at the VLT to deliver competitive results in the era of new large-area and/or high-resolution survey facilities (e.g. Euclid, JWST, Rubin-LSST, and ESO-ELT).