Our cosmological model predicts that most of the matter in the universe is distributed in a network of filaments - the Cosmic Web - in which galaxies form and evolve. Because most of this material is too diffuse to form stars,… Leggi tutto its direct imaging has remained elusive for several decades leaving fundamental questions still open, including: what are the morphological and kinematical properties of the Cosmic Web on both small (kpc) and large (Mpc) scales? How do galaxies get their gas from the Cosmic Web? In this programme, I will tackle these questions with an innovative method and technology that allows us to directly detect in emission the gaseous Cosmic Web before the peak of galaxy formation, when the universe is less than 3 billion years old: using bright quasars and galaxies as “cosmic flashlights” to make the gas “fluorescently” glow. Although challenging, detecting such emission is possible: I have recently demonstrated that some parts of the Cosmic Web illuminated by bright quasars can be detected in both hydrogen Lyman-alpha and H-alpha emission. These pilot studies and new instruments such as VLT/MUSE and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST; available from 2021) are the ideal stepping stones for a revolution in the field, the main goals of this programme: 1) direct imaging of the average Cosmic Web extending on cosmological scales (tens of Mpc) in the young universe, away from quasars; 2) revealing the small-scale distribution (below one kpc) of gas within Cosmic Web filaments. For this aim, I will use the deepest available observations to date, including a 160-hours deep integration that is being obtained through our MUSE Guaranteed Time of Observations, and future ground-based Adaptive-Optics and JWST infrared H-alpha observations. These datasets will be combined with new data analysis methods and numerical models that will be specifically developed in this programme opening up a completely new window to study cosmic structure and galaxy formation.

The currently favoured Lambda-Cold-Dark-Matter (ΛCDM) cosmological model makes specific predictions about the abundance, structure and clustering of dark matter halos (DMHs), the sites where galaxies form. These predictions are accurate at describing large scale observations. On smaller scales, the agreement between ΛCDM… Leggi tutto and observations of dwarf galaxies is unclear because (i) the structure of DMHs depends on particularities of different galaxy formation models, and (ii) observations of dwarfs suffer from sizable uncertainties. Is ΛCDM successful on small scales? A definite answer to this major open question may either reveal the nature of DM or change dramatically our understanding of structure formation in the Universe. My research will deliver the foundations to probe ΛCDM on unprecedented small scales by exploiting a fundamental prediction of the model: the existence of nearby DM-dominated “dark” galaxies (so-called RELHICs). RELHICs are pristine collapsed DMHs that contain sufficient gas leftover from the epoch of reionization to recombine and emit radiation that can be observed in 21 cm (or recombination lines) but without becoming self-shielding and forming stars. Firstly, I will develop and analyse high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations performed with state-of-the-art numerical codes that include cutting-edge galaxy formation and radiative-transfer (RT) models to predict the abundance and clustering of RELHICs. Secondly, I will design robust survey strategies targeted at detecting RELHICs with current and upcoming observing facilities (e.g., ALMA, FAST, MEERKAT, WALLABY). The detection and characterization of REHICs will offer an unprecedented and clean probe to ΛCDM on scales that have not yet been probed. My extensive expertise in numerical simulations, cosmology and galaxy formation, combined with that of Prof. Michele Fumagalli in RT and physics of the interstellar medium will enable me to materialize my predictions into observational probes

The aim of the DART WARS project is to boost the sensitivity of experiments based on low-noise superconducting detectors. This goal will be reached through the development of wideband superconducting amplifiers with noise at the quantum limit and the implementation of a… Leggi tutto quantum limited read out in different types of superconducting detectors. Noise at the quantum limit over a large bandwidth is a fundamental requirement for challenging future applications, like neutrino mass measurement, next generation x-ray observatory, cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurement, and dark matter and axion detection. The sensitivity and the bandwidth of microcalorimeter detectors such as Transition Edge Sensors (TESs) and Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) using dissipative readout are limited by the noise temperature and bandwidth of the cryogenic amplifier. Likewise, resonant axion detectors, such as haloscopes, must probe a range of frequencies of several GHz keeping the system noise to the lowest possible level. The need for a quantum limited microwave amplifier with large bandwidth operating at millikelvin temperatures is also particularly felt in many quantum technology applications, for example the rapid high-fidelity multiplexed readout of superconducting qubits. To this end, devices called traveling wave parametric amplifiers (TWPAs) are currently being developed. The nonlinear element of TWPAs is provided by Josephson junctions or by the kinetic inductance of a high-resistivity superconductor.The DART WARS project is a research effort to improve the performance and reliability of these amplifiers with the study of new materials and with improved microwave and thermal engineering. The long-term goal is to demonstrate, for the first time, the readout with different sensors (TESs, MKIDs, microwave cavities) opening the concrete possibility to increase the sensitivity of the next generation particle physics experiments.

MEETmeTONIGHT (MEET) – “Face to face with the research” is the proposal for the European Researchers’ Night in 2020, happening in the major Italian cities of Milan, Naples, Caserta and Padua, complemented by Brescia, Castellanza, Cremona, Edolo, Lecco, Lodi, Mantova,… Leggi tutto Monza, Sondrio (Lombardy region), Avellino, Portici, Procida (Campania region), Cassino, Frosinone, Gaeta, Ventotene (Lazio region) and Asiago (Veneto region). The goal is to realize a special occasion of meeting and interaction between the public at large and the world of research, where researchers – at the forefront of all the proposed activities – can show themselves and what they do, in a simple, spontaneous, informal and entertaining way, actively involving the public. People, by doing, find themselves learning, getting amused, and becoming aware of how much research is for everyone and all around us. All MEET activities aim at promoting research and its outcomes, researchers and their profession, with a special attention to the youngest generations on one side, and to the recognition of the role of Europe on the other. With one common macro-theme, detailed in five thematic areas and five slogans, MEET proposes interactive stands, hands-on experiments and live demos that reconstruct the research environment; conferences, video projections, interactive games; guided visits to scientific museums; meeting occasions with researchers; European Corners; live broadcast moments. A special attention is given to schools’ pupils, for which a number of dedicated activities are foreseen, at the goal of encouraging them to consider research career as a concrete option for their life, and to sustainability, one of the most important topics to be considered to achieve a better future.

1.1. State of the art, knowledge needs and project objectives: The aim of the project is to provide novel solutions for the two major societal challenges we are facing today; plastic waste (from food packaging) and food waste. The short… Leggi tutto to midterm goal of the project is to develop, test and demonstrate novel smart (active and intelligent) packaging solutions based on photothermal-nanomaterials for improved functionality of the food packaging. A schematic overview of the project is shown in figure 1. The project is subdivided into five distinct work packages (WP). A successful development and implementation of the proposed technology will be an important step towards achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12, 14 and circular economy of food grade plastics. In the long term, the developed technology will enable decrease of food waste and packaging waste, ensure food safety and result in environmental and logistics benefits in the food supply chain. To achieve these goals, the tasks will be performed in close collaboration with both national and international partners.

This CREMLINplus project proposal is about European-Russian scientific and technical collaboration in the field of research infrastructures. It takes up and addresses all recommendations that have been worked out in close European-Russian collaboration within three years of the Horizon 2020 project CREMLIN. CREMLINplus… Leggi tutto is a voluminous project, a grand endeavour, setting out to fully implement jointly elaborated EuropeanRussian collaboration roadmaps and to ensure that the framework conditions will be improved and continually harmonized. The project will operate in two directions, following two main strategic goals: (1) CREMLINplus will strongly advance the five Russian megascience projects in close European-Russian collaboration. This objective refers to the technical preparation of the megascience projects for European and international utilisation. The project will allow European-Russian collaborative top teams to develop and deliver finest, novel cutting-edge technologies for both the Russian megascience projects and their European RI counterparts. (2) CREMLINplus will prepare a defined set of Russian research infrastructures, hosted at eleven laboratories, for not only Russian, but also European and international access and utilisation. For this purpose, suitable framework conditions for opening and accessing these Russian facilities will be developed and implemented. A comprehensive base of knowledge and expertise for RI managers and scientists at various levels will be created. The 35 European and Russian participants of the project have come together to build the broad and balanced consortium, connected through a history of trustful collaboration. They are the relevant entities in the domain of research infrastructures in Europe and in Russia, and thus provide the necessary strength, commitment and power to implement the project plan.

Galaxies reside within a web of gas that feeds the formation of new stars. Following star formation, galaxies eject some of their gas reservoir back into this cosmic web. This proposal addresses the fundamental questions of how these inflows and… Leggi tutto outflows regulate the evolution of galaxies. My research team will tackle two key problems: 1) how gas accretion regulates the build-up of galaxies; 2) how efficiently outflows are in removing gas from star-forming regions. To characterise these flows across five billion years of cosmic history, we will pursue cutting-edge research on the halo gas, which is the material around the central galaxies, within dark matter halos. We will focus on scales ranging from a few kiloparsecs, where outflows originate, up to hundreds of kiloparsecs from galaxies, where inflows and outflows have visible impacts on halos. We will attack this problem using both simulations and observations with the largest telescopes on the ground and in space. With novel applications of absorption spectroscopy, we will gain a new vantage point on the astrophysics of these gas flows. Exploiting unprecedented datasets that I am currently assembling thanks to ground-breaking developments in instrumentation, we will directly connect the properties of halo gas to those of the central galaxies, investigating the impact

The European Spallation Source being constructed in Lund, Sweden will provide the user community with a neutron source of unprecedented brightness. By 2025, a suite of 15 instruments will be served by a high-brightness moderator system placed above the spallation target. The… Leggi tutto ESS infrastructure, consisting of the proton linac, the target station, and the instrument halls, allows for implementation of a second source below the spallation target. We propose to develop a second neutron source with a high-intensity moderator able to (1) deliver a larger total cold neutron flux, (2) provide high intensities at longer wavelengths in the spectral regions of Cold (4-10 Å), Very Cold (10-40 Å), and Ultra Cold (several 100 Å) neutrons, as opposed to Thermal and Cold neutrons delivered by the top moderator. Offering both unprecedented brilliance, flux, and spectral range in a single facility, this upgrade will make ESS the most versatile neutron source in the world and will further strengthen the leadership of Europe in neutron science. The new source will boost several areas of condensed matter research such as imaging and spin-echo, and will provide outstanding opportunities in fundamental physics investigations of the laws of nature at a precision unattainable anywhere else. At the heart of the proposed system is a volumetric liquid deuterium moderator. Based on proven technology, its performance will be optimized in a detailed engineering study. This moderator will be complemented by secondary sources to provide intense beams of Very- and Ultra-Cold Neutrons. To perform the required development of advanced moderator and reflector materials, and find the best solutions for their implementation at ESS, the HighNESS consortium pursues an integrated approach, combining complementary expertise of its partners in simulations, neutronic design and engineering, material characterization using neutron scattering techniques, and the targeted scientific applications of slow neutrons