Scientific Seminars

Illuminating the Dark Universe and the Cosmic Web

Sebastiano Cantalupo
ETH Zurich

2020-01-20    15.00    Bicocca - Aula Marchetti U1-07 (piazza della scienza)

Our standard cosmological model predicts that most of the matter in the universe is in the form of a still unknown “dark matter” that is distributed into a network of filaments called the "Cosmic Web”. Interacting gravitationally with the “dark matter”, the “standard" baryonic component of the universe is both a tracer of the Cosmic Web and the fuel for the formation and evolution of galaxies. However, because most of this baryonic matter is too diffuse to form stars, its direct imaging has remained elusive for several decades leaving fundamental questions still open, including: What is the nature of dark matter? What are the morphological and physical properties of the Cosmic Web? How do galaxies accrete baryonic matter from the Cosmic Web? In this talk, I will discuss how we have been able to finally tackle these questions using new ways to directly detect and study cosmic matter in emission using bright galaxies as external "sources of illumination’’. In particular, I will show results from ongoing observations with the most advanced instrumentation now available on the European Very Large Telescope and W. M. Keck Observatory that revealed numerous giant emitting “Cosmic Web” filaments extending up to cosmological scales around bright sources. Finally, I will discuss upcoming programs funded through competitive European grants and future instrumentation that will provide new and unique opportunities to significantly advance our fundamental knowledge of the universe.