An omnipresent feature of the "cosmic web" — the large-scale filamentary backbone of the Universe — is represented by a warm/hot gas component. This is a dominant component in the overall matter budget on a multi-scale realm spanning from Mpc-scale intergalactic filaments, to the intracluster medium (ICM) and the circumgalactic medium (CGM) surrounding individual galaxies. Therefore, the study of the warm/hot gas represents a powerful means for tracing the matter assembly in the Universe, its thermal history, and the intertwined evolution of galaxies and their large-scale environment. In my talk, I will discuss how advanced (sub)millimeter facilities like the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) have revolutionized our perspective on the hot and ionized Universe via the possibility of tracing the multi-faceted Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect — a peculiar spectral signature imprinted in the ubiquitous cosmic microwave background by the warm/hot gas within cosmic structures. Still, it is only with the unparalleled combination of sensitivity, angular resolution, and spectral coverage of the Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) that we will be able to conclusively open an SZ window on the hot Universe. The EU-funded Phase 1 Design Study for this future 50m-class facility has recently concluded, and I will provide an overview of its main outcomes.
Poster of the event is available at: Poster
Remote MS Teams connection: Connection
