Context :

Aims : \omega Centauri ( NGC 5139 ) hosts hundreds of pulsating variable stars of different types , thus representing a treasure trove for studies of their corresponding period-luminosity ( PL ) relations .
Our goal in this study is to obtain the PL relations for RR Lyrae , and SX Phoenicis stars in the field of the cluster , based on high-quality , well-sampled light curves in the near-infrared ( IR ) .

Methods : \omega Centauri was observed using VIRCAM mounted on VISTA .
A total of 42 epochs in J and 100 epochs in K _ { S } were obtained , spanning 352 days .
Point-spread function photometry was performed using DoPhot and DAOPHOT in the outer and inner regions of the cluster , respectively .

Results : Based on the comprehensive catalogue of near-IR light curves thus secured , PL relations were obtained for the different types of pulsators in the cluster , both in the J and K _ { S } bands .
This includes the first PL relations in the near-IR for fundamental-mode SX Phoenicis stars .
The near-IR magnitudes and periods of Type II Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars were used to derive an updated true distance modulus to the cluster , with a resulting value of ( m - M ) _ { 0 } = 13.708 \pm 0.035 \pm 0.10 mag , where the error bars correspond to the adopted statistical and systematic errors , respectively .
Adding the errors in quadrature , this is equivalent to a heliocentric distance of 5.52 \pm 0.27 kpc .

Conclusions :