Research on COSMOLOGY and HIGH-REDSHIFT UNIVERSE

How cosmic structures formed and how galaxies were assembled remain key open questions in the study of modern cosmology. Theoretical models of primordial star formation and observations of samples faint high-redshift galaxies and clusters are the cornerstone of our group. By combining results from observational and theoretical research, the ultimate aim is to constrain the epoch of structure and galaxy formation, and broaden our understanding of physical processes at work in the early universe. Specifically, our group is engaged in studies of:

• Formation, evolution, and survival of dust grains in primordial objects, and comparison of theoretical predictions and observations (Simone Bianchi, Marco Bocchio)
• Early-type galaxy scaling relations at high redshift (Sperello di Serego Alighieri)
• Chemical evolution and mass-metallicity scaling relations over cosmic epochs (Giovanni Cresci, Anna Gallazzi, Filippo Mannucci, Alessandro Marconi, Guido Risaliti)
• Stellar populations, dynamics, morphology, and physical properties of distant galaxy populations (e.g., GEMS followup, LSD, SINS survey, LEGA-C ESO public spectrocopic survey) (Giovanni Cresci, Anna Gallazzi, Filippo Mannucci, Alessandro Marconi, Stefano Zibetti)
• Supernova rates and progenitor properties as a function of galaxy morphology and redshift (Filippo Mannucci)
• Clusters of galaxies at high redshift: structure formation and cosmology, thermodynamics of the Intra Cluster Medium and physics of cool cores (Paolo Tozzi)
• X-ray surveys of galaxy clusters (Paolo Tozzi)
• QSO absorption systems (Stefano Zibetti)
• Gamma-ray bursts, afterglows, and their host galaxies through the Consorzio Italiano per Burst Ottici (CIBO) (Leslie Hunt, Filippo Mannucci)
• Cosmic Polarization Rotation, an astrophysical test of fundamental physics (Sperello di Serego Alighieri)
• Quasars as cosmological tools: measurement of cosmological parameters and tests of the cosmological model through a Hubble diagram of quasars, built using the non-linear relation between UV and X-ray emission in quasars (Elisabeta Lusso, Guido Risaliti)