Networks and Grants

Experiments, networks and projects involving members of SISSA Astrophysics and Cosmology group.

Networks


Big Data for Black Hole Evolution Studies
The BiD4BEST ITN will offer doctoral training in one of the most visible areas of astrophysical research, the formation of supermassive black holes in galaxies. A coordinated research training effort in this field is needed now to mobilise the community in Europe and prepare a core group of young scientists in anticipation of new observational data in the early/mid 2020s from future space missions with strong European involvement. These data will have the quality and volume to yield transformational science on the formation of black-holes in galaxies, as long as the necessary expertise and synergies among observation, theory and data analytics exist within the European astronomy community. We propose to achieve this goal by setting up a research training network that brings together leading scientists in observational and theoretical studies of black holes and galaxies, industrial experts in cutting-edge big-data technologies, and professionals in science dissemination. Together, we will setup doctoral research projects each of which combines state-of-the-art observations, numerical simulations and innovative analytic tools to compare theory with observation and shed light on the physics of black hole formation in the context of galaxy evolution. The training on expertise from different research areas (observational astronomy, theoretical astrophysics) and sectors (academic, industrial) will be achieved by carefully designed secondments, mixed doctoral supervisory committees (academia, industry), well coordinated events for team communication and interaction, as well as network-wide courses on astrophysics and transferable skills. The proposed research training programme aspires to generate individuals that in addition to academic competences, master big-data analytics and have the capacity to apply these technologies to solve problems in different sectors (research, industry, non-academic) by developing innovative products and services.
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RadioForegroundsPlus
The aim of RadioForegroundsPlus is to combine the nine Planck all-sky (30-857 GHz) maps, with three unique low-frequency data sets: the QUIJOTE maps (at 11, 13, 17 and 19 GHz), the C-BASS survey (at 5 GHz) and the S-PASS data (at 2.3 GHz) to provide the best possible characterization of the physical properties of polarized emissions in the microwave domain, together with an unprecedentedly thorough description of the intensity signal. This legacy information will be essential for future ground-based, sub-orbital or space experiments. In particular, the joint analysis of these data will allow us to achieve the following ground-breaking objectives:

  • to provide state-of-the-art legacy maps of the synchrotron, free-free and anomalous microwave emissions over extended sky coverage;
  • to characterize the spectral behaviour of synchrotron emission with high precision over the full sky, pinning down its deviations from a simple power-law;
  • to model the recovered diffuse Galactic synchrotron emission in terms of a 3D physical interpretation of the distribution of cosmic rays propagating through the magnetic field;
  • to model and characterize, or to constrain tightly, the level of a possible contribution of polarized Anomalous Microwave Emission (AME);
  • to reconstruct the regular and turbulent components of the Galactic magnetic field;
  • to provide improved catalogues of the population of radio sources observed by Planck including unique information from additional frequencies;
  • to make robust predictions about the effect of radio foregrounds on the detectability of the B-mode of polarization for future CMB experiments; and
  • to provide updated maps of thermal dust emission and to characterise its correlation with synchrotron. RadioForegroundsPlus builds on the effort and expertise of the former RADIOFOREGROUNDS program. RadioForegroundsPlus has received funding from the European Union’s HORIZON-CL4-2023-SPACE-01 programme under grant agreement number 101135036.

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GOThA
GOThA (Galaxy Observational and Theoretical Astrophysics) is an inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional team of researchers aiming to investigate galaxy formation and evolution by combining state-of-the-art observational data with innovative theoretical modeling and data science techniques.
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SHORES survey
Serendipitous Herschel-ATLAS fields Observations of Radio Extragalactic Sources
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CMB-INFLATE
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101007633. The main goal of CMB-INFLATE is to build a community of scientists dedicated to the development of innovative analysis of large angular scale Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization data to identify the inflation mechanism.The final objective of the community is to measure the gravitational wave signal from the inflation period of the Universe by the accurate mapping of the CMB polarisation on large angular scales by future satellite missions. CMB-INFLATE will have the following main objectives:

  • modeling hardware developed over three continents, including polarization modulators, optical systems, and detectors;
  • development and implementation of innovative techniques to mitigate systematics from the sky and the instrument.

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INDARK
INFN specific initiative for studying Inflation, Dark Matter and the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe.
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VESF
The Virgo-EGO Scientific Forum contributes to the further development of scientific knowledge around the Virgo gravitational wave detector.
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Telescopes and experiments


Simons Observatory
Ground-Based Telescope supported by the Simons Foundation to map the CMB B-mode anisotropies, looking for the signal from Cosmological Gravitational Waves, and characterizing the signal from Weak Gravitational Lensing.
Staff involved: C. Baccigalupi, N. Krachmalnicoff
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ALMA
Atacama Large Millimiter Array
Staff involved: M. Massardi, F. Perrotta, A. Lapi
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JWST
James Webb Space Telescope
Staff involved: A. Lapi, M. Massardi, F. Perrotta
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SKAO
Square Kilometer Array Observatory
Staff involved: M. Massardi, A. Lapi
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Vera C. Rubin Observatory
also known as LSST - Legacy Survey of Space and Time
Staff involved: P. Salucci, A. Bressan
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Athena
Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics
Staff involved: A. Celotti, A. Lapi
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Euclid
Euclid is a Esa mission aim to understand the nature of dark energy and dark matter by accurate measurement of the accelerated expansion of the Universe through different independent methods.
Staff involved: C. Baccigalupi, N. Krachmalnicoff, A. Lapi
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Fermi
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, formerly known as GLAST, is designed to explore the high-energy Universe, and is a joint venture of NASA, US DoE, and agencies in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Sweden. It was launched in June 2008 and released first light images in August 2008.
Staff involved: A. Celotti
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Gaia
Gaia's principal mission is to create the largest and most precise three dimensional chart of our Galaxy by providing unprecedented positional and radial velocity measurements for about one billion stars in our Galaxy and throughout the Local Group.
Staff involved: A. Bressan
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Einstein Telescope
Next generation gravitational wave telescope.
Staff involved: M. Spera, U. Di Carlo, A. Lapi
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