SSA researcher and cosmologist Nicoletta Krachmalnicoff was elected as a member of the Simons Observatory's Theory and Analysis Committee, the highest council of the collaboration, working on data management and preparation.
The construction of the Simons Observatory will be completed in Chile in 2022, and in early 2023 data collection is expected to begin. Part of an international collaboration that includes the largest experimental laboratories and analysis centers in the USA and EU, the ultimate goal of the new observatory, already funded for over 40 million dollars, is to observe the gravitational waves originating from the Big Bang. SISSA had already been entrusted with the leadership of one of the most important working groups, the Foregrounds Analysis Working Group, which was managed in the last two-year period by Nicoletta Krachmalnicoff, and for which she was reconfirmed for another two-year period. Now, she adds another role of great prestige but also of great responsibility, since the researcher is the only representative of the European Union among the members of the Theory and Analysis committee.
" Among the numerous challenges regarding the analysis of cosmic signals, the Simons Observatory and the attempt to reach, through its observations, the first measurement of gravitational waves generated by the Big Bang play a prominent role, with the potential to have exceptional impact on our knowledge of fundamental physics. I was surprised, and happy, for my selection for this collaborative body that has the task of planning, discussing and implementing the work that connects theory to data analysis for the Simons Observatory," said the researcher. "This role, which I will hold for two years, is particularly important because it overlaps with the observatory’s first data collection, scheduled for 2023. Personally this represents an important recognition of the work done in my research activity but also a great responsibility, for which I will do my utmost, coordinating with the group of Astrophysics and Cosmology at SISSA, Member Institution of the Simons Observatory, and with colleagues in other national centers and institutes, in Europe and the United States that, together, participate in this global scientific challenge. "