Nicola Tomassetti | Università degli Studi di Perugia (original) (raw)

Papers by Nicola Tomassetti

Research paper thumbnail of The Penetrating particle ANalyzer (PAN) instrument for measurements of low energy cosmic rays

2019 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS/MIC), 2019

PAN is an instrument designed to precisely measure and monitor the flux, composition, and directi... more PAN is an instrument designed to precisely measure and monitor the flux, composition, and direction of highly penetrating particles (>100MeV/nucleon) in deep space and interplanetary missions with an energy resolution better than 10% for nuclei from H to Fe at 1GeV/n. The detector, limited to about 20kg in mass and 20W in power consumption, is based on the well-known magnetic spectrometer detection principle, and exploits the advantages provided by the integration of ultra-thin microstrip silicon detectors, hybrid silicon pixel detectors and silicon photomultipliers. This novel layout and detection concept facilitates the flexibility of the PAN instrument for a variegate spectrum of space missions and applications, and opens the possibility to deploy PAN instruments over a distributed array monitoring the radiation environment in different positions of the heliosphere. PAN will measure the properties of cosmic rays in the 100MeV/n - 20GeV/n energy range in deep space with unprece...

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Research paper thumbnail of Fragmentation cross-sections and model uncertainties in Cosmic Ray propagation physics

arXiv: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, 2015

Abundances and energy spectra of cosmic ray nuclei are being measured with high accuracy by the A... more Abundances and energy spectra of cosmic ray nuclei are being measured with high accuracy by the AMS experiment. These observations can provide tight constraints to the propagation models of galactic cosmic rays. In the view of the release of these data, I present an evaluation of the model uncertainties associated to the cross-sections for secondary production of Li-Be-B nuclei in cosmic rays. I discuss the role of cross section uncertainties in the calculation of the boron-to-carbon and beryllium-to-boron ratios, as well as their impact in the determination of the cosmic-ray transport parameters.

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Research paper thumbnail of New insights from cross-correlation studies between Solar activity and Cosmic-ray fluxes

Proceedings of 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2021), 2021

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Research paper thumbnail of Development of a web application for monitoring solar activity and cosmic radiation

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Research paper thumbnail of Fragmentation cross-sections and model uncertainties in propagation of Galactic cosmic rays

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Research paper thumbnail of Time lag in cosmic-ray modulation and global properties of the Solar Cycle

Proceedings of 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2019), 2019

When entering the heliosphere, Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) are influenced by magnetic turbulence ... more When entering the heliosphere, Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) are influenced by magnetic turbulence and Solar wind disturbances, which cause the so-called "solar modulation" effect. Understanding the time-dependent relationship between the Sun's variability and GCR flux modulation is essential for the investigation of the GCR transport processes in the heliosphere, as well as for the establishment of predictive models of GCR radiation in the interplanetary space. The known anti-correlation between GCR flux and sunspot number appears to be delayed by several months, but the origin of such a time lag is unclear. In this work, we are perform the first global characterization of the time lag evolution over the solar cycles and its energy dependence. We made use of a large collection of time-resolved data, both from space missions and ground based observatories. Since the long-term variation of the GCR flux originates by a combination of several physics processes, the investig...

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Research paper thumbnail of Identification of Light Cosmic-Ray Nuclei with AMS-02

AMS-02 is a wide acceptance (0.5 m2 sr) and long duration (up to 20 years) magnetic spectrometer ... more AMS-02 is a wide acceptance (0.5 m2 sr) and long duration (up to 20 years) magnetic spectrometer operating onboard the International Space Station since May 2011. Its main scientific objectives are the indirect research of Dark Matter, searches of primitive Anti-Matter and the precise measurement of the Cosmic-Ray (CR) spectra. Among charged CR species, AMS-02 will be able to measure relative abundances and absolute fluxes of CRs nuclei from Hydrogen up to at least Iron (Z = 26) in a kinetic energy range from hundreds MeV to TeV per nucleon. The high statistics measurement of the chemical composition of CRs in this extended energy range will reveal new insights about the CRs life in the Galaxy, from their origin to the propagation in the interstellar medium, giving new constraints to astrophysical models of Galactic CRs. The nucleus absolute charge, Z, is measured several times along the trajectory of the particle inside AMS-02 using different detection techniques: in the 9 planes o...

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Research paper thumbnail of Bayesian analysis of cosmic-ray propagation parameters: secondary antiparticles from spatial-dependent diffusion models

The antiparticle energy spectra of Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) have several exciting features such... more The antiparticle energy spectra of Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) have several exciting features such as the unexpected positron excess at EsimE\simEsim10-200\,GeV and the remarkably hard antiproton flux at EsimE\simEsim\,60--450\,GeV recently measured by the \AMS{} experiment. In this paper, we report calculations of antiparticle CR spectra arising from secondary production and their corresponding uncertainties. Using the most recent data on CR protons, helium, carbon, and nuclear ratios 10^{10}10Be/$^{9}$Be and B/C, we have performed a global Bayesian analysis, based on a Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling algorithm, under a scenario of spatial-dependent CR diffusion in the Galaxy which reproduces well the observed spectral hardening in the CR hadron fluxes. While the high-energy positron excess requires the contribution of additional unknown sources, we found that the antiproton data are consistent within the estimated uncertainties, with our predictions based on secondary production.

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Research paper thumbnail of P o S ( I C R C 2 0 1 7 ) 2 7 0 Production of antimatter nuclei in Galactic cosmic rays

Antimatter nuclei in cosmic rays (CRs) are a promising tool for the indirect detection of darkmat... more Antimatter nuclei in cosmic rays (CRs) are a promising tool for the indirect detection of darkmatter annihilation signatures. However, the search of new-physics signals in CRs relies on our knowledge of the astrophysical antimatter background which, in turns, depends critically on the several fragmentation cross-sections that regulate production and destruction of antiparticles in the interstellar medium. In this work, we have re-evaluated the astrophysical background of CR antiproton, antineutron, and antihelium nuclei in Galactic CRs using improved calculations. The production cross-sections of individual antinucleons are constrained using updated calculations that make use of recent accelerator data. The production of antideuteron and antihelium nuclei is calculated using an improved model of nuclear coalescence that accounts for the asymmetry in antineutron and antiproton production. We discuss the cross-section induced uncertainties and show that they are dominating in comparis...

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Research paper thumbnail of In-flight operations and status of the AMS-02 silicon tracker

Proceedings of The 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2015)

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Research paper thumbnail of Consistent description of leptonic and hadronic spectra in cosmic rays

Proceedings of The 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2015), Aug 18, 2016

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Research paper thumbnail of Inhomogeneous diffusion model for recent data on high-energy cosmic rays

Proceedings of The 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2015), Aug 18, 2016

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Research paper thumbnail of Production of antimatter nuclei in Galactic Cosmic rays

Proceedings of 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2017)

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Research paper thumbnail of Secondary Antinuclei from Supernova Remnants and Background for Dark Matter Searches

Proceedings of 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2017)

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Research paper thumbnail of AMS-02 in Space: Physics Results

Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2015

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Research paper thumbnail of Precision Measurement of the (e+ + e-) Flux in Primary Cosmic Rays from 0.5 GeV to 1 TeV with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station

We present a measurement of the cosmic ray e+ + e- flux in the range 0.5 GeV to 1 TeV based on th... more We present a measurement of the cosmic ray e+ + e- flux in the range 0.5 GeV to 1 TeV based on the analysis of 10.6 million e+ + e- events collected by AMS. The statistics and the resolution of AMS provide a precision measurement of the flux. The flux is smooth and reveals new and distinct information. Above 30.2 GeV, the flux can be described by a single power law with a spectral index γ = −3.170 +- 0.008 (stat þ syst) +- 0.008 (energy scale).

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Research paper thumbnail of Observation of a time lag in solar modulation of cosmic rays in the heliosphere

Journal of Physics: Conference Series

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Research paper thumbnail of Measurement of the Cosmic Ray B/C Ratio with the AMS-01 Experiment

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is a particle physics detector designed for a high precisio... more The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is a particle physics detector designed for a high precision measurement of cosmic rays in space. AMS phase-2 (AMS-02) is scheduled to be installed on the ISS for at least three years from September 2010. The AMS-01 precursor experiment operated successfully during a 10-day NASA shuttle flight in June 1998. The orbital inclination was 51.7{\deg} at a geodetic altitude between 320 to 380 km. Nearly 200,000 Z>2 nuclei were observed by AMS-01 in the rigidity range 1-40 GV. Using these data, it is possible to investigate the relative abundances and the energy spectra of the primary cosmic rays, providing relations with their sources and propagation processes. Preliminary results on the B/C ratio in 0.4-19 GeV/nucleon kinetic energy are presented. Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, presented at ICRC 2009 - Lodz, Poland

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Research paper thumbnail of Production of cosmic-ray antinuclei in the Galaxy and background for dark matter searches

Proceedings of The European Physical Society Conference on High Energy Physics — PoS(EPS-HEP2017)

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Research paper thumbnail of High precision particle astrophysics as a new window on the universe with an Antimatter Large Acceptance Detector In Orbit (ALADInO

Exp. Astron. 19 (2021), 2021

Multimessenger astrophysics is based on the detection, with the highest possible accuracy, of the... more Multimessenger astrophysics is based on the detection, with the highest possible accuracy, of the cosmic radiation. During the last 20 years, the advent space-borne magnetic spectrometers in space (AMS-01, Pamela, AMS-02), able to measure the charged cosmic radiation separating matter from antimatter, and to provide accurate measurement of the rarest components of Cosmic Rays (CRs) to the highest possible energies, have become possible, together with the ultra-precise measurement of ordinary CRs. These developments started the era of precision Cosmic Ray physics providing access to a rich program of high-energy astrophysics addressing fundamental questions like matter-antimatter asymmetry, indirect detection for Dark Matter and the detailed study of origin, acceleration and propagation of CRs and their interactions with the interstellar medium. In this paper we address the above-mentioned scientific questions, in the context of a second generation, large acceptance, superconducting magnetic spectrometer proposed as mission in the context of the European Space Agency's Voyage2050 long-term plan: the Antimatter Large Acceptance Detector In Orbit (ALADInO) would extend by about two orders of magnitude in energy and flux sensitivity the separation between charged particles/anti-particles, making it uniquely suited for addressing and potentially solving some of the most puzzling issues of modern cosmology.

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Research paper thumbnail of The Penetrating particle ANalyzer (PAN) instrument for measurements of low energy cosmic rays

2019 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS/MIC), 2019

PAN is an instrument designed to precisely measure and monitor the flux, composition, and directi... more PAN is an instrument designed to precisely measure and monitor the flux, composition, and direction of highly penetrating particles (>100MeV/nucleon) in deep space and interplanetary missions with an energy resolution better than 10% for nuclei from H to Fe at 1GeV/n. The detector, limited to about 20kg in mass and 20W in power consumption, is based on the well-known magnetic spectrometer detection principle, and exploits the advantages provided by the integration of ultra-thin microstrip silicon detectors, hybrid silicon pixel detectors and silicon photomultipliers. This novel layout and detection concept facilitates the flexibility of the PAN instrument for a variegate spectrum of space missions and applications, and opens the possibility to deploy PAN instruments over a distributed array monitoring the radiation environment in different positions of the heliosphere. PAN will measure the properties of cosmic rays in the 100MeV/n - 20GeV/n energy range in deep space with unprece...

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Research paper thumbnail of Fragmentation cross-sections and model uncertainties in Cosmic Ray propagation physics

arXiv: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, 2015

Abundances and energy spectra of cosmic ray nuclei are being measured with high accuracy by the A... more Abundances and energy spectra of cosmic ray nuclei are being measured with high accuracy by the AMS experiment. These observations can provide tight constraints to the propagation models of galactic cosmic rays. In the view of the release of these data, I present an evaluation of the model uncertainties associated to the cross-sections for secondary production of Li-Be-B nuclei in cosmic rays. I discuss the role of cross section uncertainties in the calculation of the boron-to-carbon and beryllium-to-boron ratios, as well as their impact in the determination of the cosmic-ray transport parameters.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of New insights from cross-correlation studies between Solar activity and Cosmic-ray fluxes

Proceedings of 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2021), 2021

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Development of a web application for monitoring solar activity and cosmic radiation

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Fragmentation cross-sections and model uncertainties in propagation of Galactic cosmic rays

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Time lag in cosmic-ray modulation and global properties of the Solar Cycle

Proceedings of 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2019), 2019

When entering the heliosphere, Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) are influenced by magnetic turbulence ... more When entering the heliosphere, Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) are influenced by magnetic turbulence and Solar wind disturbances, which cause the so-called "solar modulation" effect. Understanding the time-dependent relationship between the Sun's variability and GCR flux modulation is essential for the investigation of the GCR transport processes in the heliosphere, as well as for the establishment of predictive models of GCR radiation in the interplanetary space. The known anti-correlation between GCR flux and sunspot number appears to be delayed by several months, but the origin of such a time lag is unclear. In this work, we are perform the first global characterization of the time lag evolution over the solar cycles and its energy dependence. We made use of a large collection of time-resolved data, both from space missions and ground based observatories. Since the long-term variation of the GCR flux originates by a combination of several physics processes, the investig...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Identification of Light Cosmic-Ray Nuclei with AMS-02

AMS-02 is a wide acceptance (0.5 m2 sr) and long duration (up to 20 years) magnetic spectrometer ... more AMS-02 is a wide acceptance (0.5 m2 sr) and long duration (up to 20 years) magnetic spectrometer operating onboard the International Space Station since May 2011. Its main scientific objectives are the indirect research of Dark Matter, searches of primitive Anti-Matter and the precise measurement of the Cosmic-Ray (CR) spectra. Among charged CR species, AMS-02 will be able to measure relative abundances and absolute fluxes of CRs nuclei from Hydrogen up to at least Iron (Z = 26) in a kinetic energy range from hundreds MeV to TeV per nucleon. The high statistics measurement of the chemical composition of CRs in this extended energy range will reveal new insights about the CRs life in the Galaxy, from their origin to the propagation in the interstellar medium, giving new constraints to astrophysical models of Galactic CRs. The nucleus absolute charge, Z, is measured several times along the trajectory of the particle inside AMS-02 using different detection techniques: in the 9 planes o...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Bayesian analysis of cosmic-ray propagation parameters: secondary antiparticles from spatial-dependent diffusion models

The antiparticle energy spectra of Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) have several exciting features such... more The antiparticle energy spectra of Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) have several exciting features such as the unexpected positron excess at EsimE\simEsim10-200\,GeV and the remarkably hard antiproton flux at EsimE\simEsim\,60--450\,GeV recently measured by the \AMS{} experiment. In this paper, we report calculations of antiparticle CR spectra arising from secondary production and their corresponding uncertainties. Using the most recent data on CR protons, helium, carbon, and nuclear ratios 10^{10}10Be/$^{9}$Be and B/C, we have performed a global Bayesian analysis, based on a Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling algorithm, under a scenario of spatial-dependent CR diffusion in the Galaxy which reproduces well the observed spectral hardening in the CR hadron fluxes. While the high-energy positron excess requires the contribution of additional unknown sources, we found that the antiproton data are consistent within the estimated uncertainties, with our predictions based on secondary production.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of P o S ( I C R C 2 0 1 7 ) 2 7 0 Production of antimatter nuclei in Galactic cosmic rays

Antimatter nuclei in cosmic rays (CRs) are a promising tool for the indirect detection of darkmat... more Antimatter nuclei in cosmic rays (CRs) are a promising tool for the indirect detection of darkmatter annihilation signatures. However, the search of new-physics signals in CRs relies on our knowledge of the astrophysical antimatter background which, in turns, depends critically on the several fragmentation cross-sections that regulate production and destruction of antiparticles in the interstellar medium. In this work, we have re-evaluated the astrophysical background of CR antiproton, antineutron, and antihelium nuclei in Galactic CRs using improved calculations. The production cross-sections of individual antinucleons are constrained using updated calculations that make use of recent accelerator data. The production of antideuteron and antihelium nuclei is calculated using an improved model of nuclear coalescence that accounts for the asymmetry in antineutron and antiproton production. We discuss the cross-section induced uncertainties and show that they are dominating in comparis...

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Research paper thumbnail of In-flight operations and status of the AMS-02 silicon tracker

Proceedings of The 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2015)

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Consistent description of leptonic and hadronic spectra in cosmic rays

Proceedings of The 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2015), Aug 18, 2016

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Inhomogeneous diffusion model for recent data on high-energy cosmic rays

Proceedings of The 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2015), Aug 18, 2016

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Production of antimatter nuclei in Galactic Cosmic rays

Proceedings of 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2017)

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Research paper thumbnail of Secondary Antinuclei from Supernova Remnants and Background for Dark Matter Searches

Proceedings of 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2017)

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of AMS-02 in Space: Physics Results

Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2015

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Precision Measurement of the (e+ + e-) Flux in Primary Cosmic Rays from 0.5 GeV to 1 TeV with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station

We present a measurement of the cosmic ray e+ + e- flux in the range 0.5 GeV to 1 TeV based on th... more We present a measurement of the cosmic ray e+ + e- flux in the range 0.5 GeV to 1 TeV based on the analysis of 10.6 million e+ + e- events collected by AMS. The statistics and the resolution of AMS provide a precision measurement of the flux. The flux is smooth and reveals new and distinct information. Above 30.2 GeV, the flux can be described by a single power law with a spectral index γ = −3.170 +- 0.008 (stat þ syst) +- 0.008 (energy scale).

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Observation of a time lag in solar modulation of cosmic rays in the heliosphere

Journal of Physics: Conference Series

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Measurement of the Cosmic Ray B/C Ratio with the AMS-01 Experiment

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is a particle physics detector designed for a high precisio... more The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is a particle physics detector designed for a high precision measurement of cosmic rays in space. AMS phase-2 (AMS-02) is scheduled to be installed on the ISS for at least three years from September 2010. The AMS-01 precursor experiment operated successfully during a 10-day NASA shuttle flight in June 1998. The orbital inclination was 51.7{\deg} at a geodetic altitude between 320 to 380 km. Nearly 200,000 Z>2 nuclei were observed by AMS-01 in the rigidity range 1-40 GV. Using these data, it is possible to investigate the relative abundances and the energy spectra of the primary cosmic rays, providing relations with their sources and propagation processes. Preliminary results on the B/C ratio in 0.4-19 GeV/nucleon kinetic energy are presented. Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, presented at ICRC 2009 - Lodz, Poland

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Research paper thumbnail of Production of cosmic-ray antinuclei in the Galaxy and background for dark matter searches

Proceedings of The European Physical Society Conference on High Energy Physics — PoS(EPS-HEP2017)

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Research paper thumbnail of High precision particle astrophysics as a new window on the universe with an Antimatter Large Acceptance Detector In Orbit (ALADInO

Exp. Astron. 19 (2021), 2021

Multimessenger astrophysics is based on the detection, with the highest possible accuracy, of the... more Multimessenger astrophysics is based on the detection, with the highest possible accuracy, of the cosmic radiation. During the last 20 years, the advent space-borne magnetic spectrometers in space (AMS-01, Pamela, AMS-02), able to measure the charged cosmic radiation separating matter from antimatter, and to provide accurate measurement of the rarest components of Cosmic Rays (CRs) to the highest possible energies, have become possible, together with the ultra-precise measurement of ordinary CRs. These developments started the era of precision Cosmic Ray physics providing access to a rich program of high-energy astrophysics addressing fundamental questions like matter-antimatter asymmetry, indirect detection for Dark Matter and the detailed study of origin, acceleration and propagation of CRs and their interactions with the interstellar medium. In this paper we address the above-mentioned scientific questions, in the context of a second generation, large acceptance, superconducting magnetic spectrometer proposed as mission in the context of the European Space Agency's Voyage2050 long-term plan: the Antimatter Large Acceptance Detector In Orbit (ALADInO) would extend by about two orders of magnitude in energy and flux sensitivity the separation between charged particles/anti-particles, making it uniquely suited for addressing and potentially solving some of the most puzzling issues of modern cosmology.

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