Dr. Elia Battistelli is an Associate Professor at Sapienza University of Rome. His research focuses on observational cosmology, with a strong emphasis on instrumentation and observations. He has played a leading role in several cutting-edge experiments observing the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), notably the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and the Simons Observatory (SO). After completing his PhD at Sapienza University in 2004, he held a postdoctoral position at the IAC (2004–2005), where he worked on the scientific analysis of data from the Cosmosomas experiment. He subsequently held another postdoctoral position at the University of British Columbia (UBC) from 2006 to 2008 before returning to Rome.

Dr. Battistelli’s visit has two primary scientific objectives. The first is to use ACT intensity data, specifically from its lower-frequency channel, to investigate Anomalous Microwave Emission (AME). ACT data offer the advantage of high angular resolution, complementing current results from the QUIJOTE experiment (which operates at one-degree resolution) and enabling correlation studies with far-infrared data; the latter trace the emission from the same interstellar medium dust grains that give rise to AME. These studies are crucial for advancing our understanding of this emission mechanism and its potential role as a contaminant in Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations. The second objective is the scientific analysis of data already obtained at 20 GHz using the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) -featuring very high angular resolution- covering various AME regions and the Crab Nebula. In the case of the Crab Nebula, the aim is to improve our understanding of its polarized emission and refine the models used to calibrate CMB experiments. In parallel, other joint projects will be launched focusing on the development of scientific cases related to the AME and the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect, as well as the radio-frequency observational studies of the cosmic web using the MISTRAL instrument at 90 GHz on the SRT telescope and, in the longer run, the AtLAST telescope. Synergies regarding joint projects to measure CMB spectral distortions (COSMO, TMS, and BISOU) will also be discussed.

During his visit, Dr. Battistelli will give a seminar to the entire IAC titled “High-Resolution Sunyaev-Zeldovich Observations of the Cosmic Web”