We present a cosmological analysis of the X-ray-selected galaxy cluster sample from the XXL survey, employing a simulation-based inference (SBI) framework to jointly constrain cosmological parameters and X-ray scaling relations through forward modeling of cluster counts, X-ray observables, and weak-lensing measurements. Our analysis combines X-ray data from the XMM-XXL survey with shear measurements from the three-year shape catalog of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program. The analysis focuses on the XXL C1 sample, comprising 171 clusters for abundance modeling, a subset of 86 clusters located within the XXL-N region for lensing-based mass calibration, and 162 clusters with X-ray temperature and luminosity measurements used to constrain scaling relations. Using the density-estimation likelihood-free inference (DELFI) algorithm, we construct a forward model with 12 parameters that incorporates the XXL selection function and cluster population modeling and accounts for key systematic effects including cluster miscentering, photometric redshift bias, and mass-dependent weak-lensing bias. Our SBI analysis yields a constraint on the cosmological parameter S_8 ≡ σ_8 (Ω_m/0.3)^0.5 = 0.867 ± 0.063, with an additional 3

Under the standard model of hierarchical structure formation, the overall geometry of galaxy clusters is better described by a triaxial ellipse than by a sphere. As a result, the application of spherically symmetric models can result in significant biases, with masses derived from weak-lensing observations being particularly sensitive. These biases can be mitigated by fitting a triaxial model, but this requires deep multi-probe data along with a set of physically motivated models to describe them. We present a multi-probe triaxial analysis method based on the data available for galaxy clusters in the Cluster Heritage project with XMM-Newton - Mass Assembly and Thermodynamics at Endpoint of structure formation (CHEX-MATE), which includes X-ray data from XMM-Newton, Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect maps from Planck and ACT, and weak-lensing data from Subaru. This work builds upon our previous development of a gas-only X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich triaxial fitting formalism in Paper I. After verifying our approach using mock observations of model clusters with known properties, we applied it to the CHEX-MATE galaxy cluster PSZ2 G313.33+61.13 (Abell 1689). We found that the cluster is elongated along the line of sight relative to the plane of sky by a factor of & Rscr;(LP) = 1.20 +/- 0.04. As a result, the weak-lensing mass obtained from our triaxial fit, M-200c = (13.88(-1.43)(+1.73)) & times; 10(14)M(circle dot ) , is significantly lower than the value of (17.77(-1.75)(+2.00))& times;10(14)M(circle dot )obtained from a spherically symmetric fit that otherwise employed the same method. Our triaxial fit finds a concentration ofc(200c)=8.66(-1.70)(+2.08), consistent with the spherically symmetric value of 9.99+2.26-1.78, which suggests that the unexpectedly high concentration in Abell 1689 is not due to triaxiality and orientation. We also measured the nonthermal pressure fraction at radii between 0.18-1.37 Mpc and found a minimum of approximately 20% at intermediate radii, increasing to near 30% at the smallest and largest radii, and with a typical measurement precision of +/- 5%.

We present a weak-lensing shear analysis of 41 Planck SZ-selected galaxy clusters at 0.11≤ z≤ 0.55 from the CHEX-MATE sample, using wide-field Subaru/Suprime-Cam and CFHT/MegaPrime imaging from the AMALGAM project. We detect the azimuthally averaged weak-lensing signal around the X-ray peak of each cluster, achieving a median S/N of 6.5 per cluster. The 45^∘-rotated component has a median S/N of -0.1 and ranges from -1.8 to +1.8, consistent with zero. We model the excess surface mass density profile of each cluster with an NFW profile to infer weak-lensing mass and concentration constraints. The total systematic uncertainty in the weak-lensing mass calibration is assessed to be 8%. Using a hierarchical Bayesian framework, we then derive weak-lensing-calibrated scaling relations for the halo concentration, c_200, as a function of M_200 and redshift, and for the Planck SZ mass proxy, M_SZ, as a function of M_500 and redshift, while accounting for sample selection effects, weak-lensing modelling biases, and residual calibration uncertainty. At M_200=10^15M_⊙ and z=0.25, we find c_200=3.53±0.71 with an intrinsic scatter of 0.22±0.04 dex. The inferred normalisation and scatter are consistent with recent ΛCDM predictions for massive haloes, with no significant mass or redshift dependence over the probed range. For the Planck mass proxy, our baseline regression yields M_SZ/M_500=0.83±0.09 at M_500=7×10^14M_⊙ and z=0.25, with an intrinsic scatter of 0.10±0.02 dex. A restricted model with fixed unit mass slope and no redshift evolution gives 1-b=0.72±0.11. We also provide weak-lensing-calibrated posterior estimates of M_500 for the sample based on the baseline M_SZ–M_500–z relation. These results provide an initial weak-lensing mass calibration for CHEX-MATE multi-probe cluster studies.

The Cluster HEritage project with XMM-Newton - Mass Assembly and Thermodynamics at the Endpoint of structure formation (CHEX-MATE) is a programme to study a minimally biased sample of 118 galaxy clusters detected by Planck through the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect. Accurate and precise mass measurements are required to exploit CHEX-MATE as an astrophysical laboratory and a calibration sample for cosmological probes in the era of large surveys. We measured masses based on the galaxy dynamics, which are highly complementary to weak-lensing or X-ray estimates. We analysed the sample with a uniform pipeline that is stable both for poorly sampled or rich clusters -using spectroscopic redshifts from public (NED, SDSS, and DESI) or private archives and dedicated observational programmes. We modelled the halo mass density and the anisotropy profile. Membership is confirmed with a cleaning procedure in phase space. We derived masses from measured velocity dispersions under the assumed model. We measured dynamical masses for 101 CHEX-MATE clusters with at least ten confirmed members within the virial radius r200c. Estimated redshifts and velocity dispersions agree with literature values when available. Validation with weak-lensing masses shows agreement within 8 +/- 16 (stat.) +/- 5 (sys.)%, and confirms dynamical masses as an unbiased proxy. Comparison with Planck masses shows them to be biased low by 34 +/- 3 (stat.) +/- 5 (sys.)%. A follow-up spectroscopic campaign is underway to cover the full CHEX-MATE sample.

We present the Flagship galaxy mock, a simulated catalogue of billions of galaxies designed to support the scientific exploitation of the Euclid mission. Euclid is a medium-class mission of the European Space Agency optimised to determine the properties of dark matter and dark energy on the largest scales of the Universe. It probes structure formation over more than 10 billion years primarily from the combination of weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clustering data. The breath of Euclid's data will also foster a wide variety of scientific analyses. The Flagship simulation was developed to provide a realistic approximation to the galaxies that will be observed by Euclid and used in its scientific analyses. We ran a state-of-the-art N-body simulation with four trillion particles, producing a lightcone on the fly. From the dark matter particles, we produced a catalogue of 16 billion haloes in one octant of the sky in the lightcone up to redshift z=3. We then populated these haloes with mock galaxies using a halo occupation distribution and abundance matching approach, calibrating the free parameters of the galaxy mock against observed correlations and other basic galaxy properties. Modelled galaxy properties include luminosity and flux in several bands, redshifts, positions and velocities, spectral energy distributions, shapes and sizes, stellar masses, star formation rates, metallicities, emission line fluxes, and lensing properties. We selected a final sample of 3.4 billion galaxies with a magnitude cut of H_E<26, where we are complete. We have performed a comprehensive set of validation tests to check the similarity to observational data and theoretical models. In particular, our catalogue is able to closely reproduce the main characteristics of the weak lensing and galaxy clustering samples to be used in the mission's main cosmological analysis. (abridged)

In the standard theory of growth of the nonbaryonic dark matter, cosmic structures form hierarchically and self-similarly from smaller clumps. The assembly merger tree goes from the linear perturbations in the early universe to highly non linear structures at late times. Gravity is the driving force and self-similarity should inform cosmic haloes. However, it is unclear if apparent anomalies at non-linear scales are due to either baryonic or new physics. Here, I show that the mass distribution of rich haloes evolve self-similarly at least since the universe was 5.7 Gyr old. Using gravitational weak lensing, I constrain the mass profiles of galaxy clusters with M_200c > 2 x 10^14 M_Sun that were optically detected in the HSC-SSP survey in the redshift range 0.2 <= z < 1.0. Cluster self-similarity confirms the standard theory of growth in the non-linear regime. Clusters are still growing but neither violent mergers nor matter slowly falling in from the cosmic web disrupt self-similarity, which is in place well before the halo formation time. Dark matter growth can fit the fossil cosmic microwave background as well as young, very massive haloes. Looking with next generation surveys at scales in clusters where self-similarity breaks could pose a new challenge to dark matter.

Context. The Euclid mission of the European Space Agency will deliver weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clustering surveys that can be used to constrain the standard cosmological model and extensions thereof. Aims. We present forecasts from the combination of the Euclid photometric galaxy surveys (weak lensing, galaxy clustering, and their crosscorrelations) and its spectroscopic redshift survey with respect to their sensitivity to cosmological parameters. We include the summed neutrino mass, Sigma m (v), and the e ffective number of relativistic species, N-e ff, in the standard Lambda alpha CDM scenario and in the dynamical dark energy (w (0) w(alpha)CDM) scenario. Methods. We compared the accuracy of di fferent algorithms predicting the non-linear matter power spectrum for such models. We then validated several pipelines for Fisher matrix and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) forecasts, using di fferent theory codes, algorithms for numerical derivatives, and assumptions on the non-linear cut-o ff scale. Results. The Euclid primary probes alone will reach a sensitivity of sigma(Sigma m (v) = 60 meV) = 56 meV in the Lambda CDM +Sigma m (v) model, whereas the combination with cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from Planck is expected to achieve sigma(Sigma m (v)) = 23 meV, o ffering evidence of a non-zero neutrino mass to at least the 2:6 sigma level. This could be pushed to a 4 sigma detection if future CMB data from LiteBIRD and CMB Stage-IV were included. In combination with Planck, Euclid will also deliver tight constraints on Delta N-e ff < 0:144 (95%CL) in the Lambda CDM +Sigma m (v)+N-e ff model or even Delta N-e ff < 0:063 when future CMB data are included. When floating the dark energy parameters, we find that the sensitivity to Ne ff remains stable, but for Sigma m (v), it gets degraded by up to a factor of 2, at most. Conclusions. This work illustrates the complementarity among the Euclid spectroscopic and photometric surveys and among Euclid and CMB constraints. Euclid will o ffer great potential in measuring the neutrino mass and excluding well-motivated scenarios with additional relativistic particles.

We study the constraint on f(R) gravity that can be obtained by photometric primary probes of the Euclid mission. Our focus is the dependence of the constraint on the theoretical modelling of the nonlinear matter power spectrum. In the Hu-Sawicki f(R) gravity model, we consider four different predictions for the ratio between the power spectrum in f(R) and that in Lambda cold dark matter (Lambda CDM): a fitting formula, the halo model reaction approach, ReACT, and two emulators based on dark matter only N-body simulations, FORGE and e-Mantis. These predictions are added to the MontePython implementation to predict the angular power spectra for weak lensing (WL), photometric galaxy clustering, and their cross-correlation. By running Markov chain Monte Carlo, we compare constraints on parameters and investigate the bias of the recovered f(R) parameter if the data are created by a different model. For the pessimistic setting of WL, one-dimensional bias for the f(R) parameter, log10|fR0|, is found to be 0.5 sigma when FORGE is used to create the synthetic data with log10|fR0| = -5.301 and fitted by e-Mantis. The impact of baryonic physics on WL is studied by using a baryonification emulator, BCemu. For the optimistic setting, the f(R) parameter and two main baryonic parameters are well constrained despite the degeneracies among these parameters. However, the difference in the nonlinear dark matter prediction can be compensated for the adjustment of baryonic parameters, and the one-dimensional marginalised constraint on log10|fR0| is biased. This bias can be avoided in the pessimistic setting at the expense of weaker constraints. For the pessimistic setting, using the Lambda CDM synthetic data for WL, we obtain the prior-independent upper limit of log10|fR0| < -5.6. Finally, we implement a method to include theoretical errors to avoid the bias due to inaccuracies in the nonlinear matter power spectrum prediction.

We forecast the expected population of active galactic nuclei (AGN) observable in the Euclid Wide Survey (EWS) and Euclid Deep Survey (EDS). Starting from an X-ray luminosity function (XLF) we generate volume-limited samples of the AGN expected in the survey footprints. Each AGN is assigned an SED appropriate for its X-ray luminosity and redshift, with perturbations sampled from empirical distributions. The photometric detectability of each AGN is assessed via mock observation of the assigned SED. We estimate 40 million AGN will be detectable in at least one band in the EWS and 0.24 million in the EDS, corresponding to surface densities of 2.8$\times$10$^{3}$ deg$^{-2}$ and 4.7$\times$10$^{3}$ deg$^{-2}$. Employing colour selection criteria on our simulated data we select a sample of 4.8$\times$10$^{6}$ (331 deg$^{-2}$) AGN in the EWS and 1.7$\times$10$^{4}$ (346 deg$^{-2}$) in the EDS, amounting to 10% and 8% of the AGN detectable in the EWS and EDS. Including ancillary Rubin/LSST bands improves the completeness and purity of AGN selection. These data roughly double the total number of selected AGN to comprise 21% and 15% of the detectable AGN in the EWS and EDS. The total expected sample of colour-selected AGN contains 6.0$\times$10$^{6}$ (74%) unobscured AGN and 2.1$\times$10$^{6}$ (26%) obscured AGN, covering $0.02 \leq z \lesssim 5.2$ and $43 \leq \log_{10} (L_{bol} / erg s^{-1}) \leq 47$. With this simple colour selection, expected surface densities are already comparable to the yield of modern X-ray and mid-infrared surveys of similar area. The relative uncertainty on our expectation for detectable AGN is 6.7% for the EWS and 12.5% for the EDS, driven by the uncertainty of the XLF.

Extragalactic globular clusters (EGCs) are an abundant and powerful tracer of galaxy dynamics and formation, and their own formation and evolution is also a matter of extensive debate. The compact nature of globular clusters means that they are hard to spatially resolve and thus study outside the Local Group. In this work we have examined how well EGCs will be detectable in images from the Euclid telescope, using both simulated pre-launch images and the first early-release observations of the Fornax galaxy cluster. The Euclid Wide Survey will provide high-spatial resolution VIS imaging in the broad IE band as well as near-infrared photometry (YE, JE, and HE). We estimate that the galaxies within 100 Mpc in the footprint of the Euclid survey host around 830 000 EGCs of which about 350 000 are within the survey's detection limits. For about half of these EGCs, three infrared colours will be available as well. For any galaxy within 50Mpc the brighter half of its GC luminosity function will be detectable by the Euclid Wide Survey. The detectability of EGCs is mainly driven by the residual surface brightness of their host galaxy. We find that an automated machine-learning EGC-classification method based on real Euclid data of the Fornax galaxy cluster provides an efficient method to generate high purity and high completeness GC candidate catalogues. We confirm that EGCs are spatially resolved compared to pure point sources in VIS images of Fornax. Our analysis of both simulated and first on-sky data show that Euclid will increase the number of GCs accessible with high-resolution imaging substantially compared to previous surveys, and will permit the study of GCs in the outskirts of their hosts. Euclid is unique in enabling systematic studies of EGCs in a spatially unbiased and homogeneous manner and is primed to improve our understanding of many understudied aspects of GC astrophysics.

Context. Cluster cosmology can benefit from combining multi-wavelength studies. In turn, these studies benefit from a characterisation of the correlation coefficients among different mass-observable relations. Aims. In this work, we aim to provide information on the scatter, skewness, and covariance of various mass-observable relations in galaxy clusters in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. This information will help future analyses improve the general approach to accretion histories and projection effects, as well as to model mass-observable relations for cosmology studies. Methods. We identified galaxy clusters in Magneticum Box2b simulations with masses of M-200c > 10(14) M-circle dot at redshifts of z = 0.24 and z = 0.90. Our analysis included Euclid-derived properties such as richness, stellar mass, lensing mass, and concentration. Additionally, we investigated complementary multi-wavelength data, including X-ray luminosity, integrated Compton-y parameter, gas mass, and temperature. We then examined the impact of projection effects on mass-observable residuals and correlations. Results. We find that at intermediate redshift (z = 0.24), projection effects have the greatest impact of lensing concentration, richness, and gas mass in terms of the scatter and skewness of the log-residuals of scaling relations. The contribution of projection effects can be significant enough to boost a spurious hot- versus cold-baryon correlations and consequently hide underlying correlations due to halo accretion histories. At high redshift (z = 0.9), the richness has a much lower scatter (of log-residuals), while the quantity that is most impacted by projection effects is the lensing mass. The lensing concentration reconstruction, in particular, is affected by deviations of the reduced-shear profile shape from that derived using a Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) profile; the amount of interlopers in the line of sight, on the other hand, is not as important.

We analysed the kinematical properties of the CHEX-MATE galaxy cluster sample. Our study is based on the radial velocities retrieved from the SDSS DR18, DESI, and NED spectroscopic databases and new data obtained with the 10.4 m GTC and ESO-NTT telescopes. We derived cluster mass profiles for 75 clusters using the MG-MAMPOSST procedure, which recovers the gravitational potential and the anisotropy profiles from line-of-sight velocities and projected positions of galaxy members. The standard Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) model and the Burkert model, with flatter cores than the NFW, both adequately fit the kinematic data, with only a marginal statistical preference for one model over the other. An estimation of the mass bias (1-B1) = M500SZ/M500M ( 1 - B 1 ) = M 500 SZ / M 500 M $ (1-B_1) = M<<^>>{\mathrm{SZ}}_{500}/M<<^>>{M}_{500} $ was performed via a comparison with Sunyaev-Zel'dovich-X-ray-calibrated mass estimates, resulting in a value of 0.54 +/- 0.11 when four evidently disturbed clusters are removed from the sample. We assessed the dynamical state of the clusters by inferring the Anderson-Darling coefficient (A2) and the fraction of galaxies in substructures (fsub). Except for a few cases, we find relatively low values for A2, which suggests that CHEX-MATE clusters are not too far from relaxation. Moreover, no significant trends emerge between A2 and fsub, nor between the log-masses estimated by MG-MAMPOSST and those based on the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect calibrated through X-rays measurements. We studied the concentration-mass relation for the sample; despite the large scatter, we observe signs of an increasing trend for high-mass clusters, in agreement with recent theoretical expectations. Finally, our analysis of the radial anisotropy profiles of member galaxies - stacked in five bins of mass and redshift - reveals that orbits tend to be isotropic at the centre and more radial towards the edge, as found in previous studies. A slight trend of increasing radial orbits at r200 is observed in clusters with larger velocity dispersions.

The Euclid mission will measure cosmological parameters with unprecedented precision. To distinguish between cosmological models, it is essential to generate realistic mock observables from cosmological simulations that were run in both the standard Lambda-cold-dark-matter (Lambda CDM) paradigm and in many non-standard models beyond Lambda CDM. We present the scientific results from a suite of cosmological N-body simulations using non-standard models including dynamical dark energy, k-essence, interacting dark energy, modified gravity, massive neutrinos, and primordial non-Gaussianities. We investigate how these models affect the large-scale-structure formation and evolution in addition to providing synthetic observables that can be used to test and constrain these models with Euclid data. We developed a custom pipeline based on the Rockstar halo finder and the nbodykit large-scale structure toolkit to analyse the particle output of non-standard simulations and generate mock observables such as halo and void catalogues, mass density fields, and power spectra in a consistent way. We compare these observables with those from the standard Lambda CDM model and quantify the deviations. We find that non-standard cosmological models can leave large imprints on the synthetic observables that we have generated. Our results demonstrate that non-standard cosmological N-body simulations provide valuable insights into the physics of dark energy and dark matter, which is essential to maximising the scientific return of Euclid.

The Euclid mission of the European Space Agency will provide weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clustering surveys that can be used to constrain the standard cosmological model and its extensions, with an opportunity to test the properties of dark matter beyond the minimal cold dark matter paradigm. We present forecasts from the combination of the Euclid weak lensing and photometric galaxy clustering data on the parameters describing four interesting and representative non-minimal dark matter models: a mixture of cold and warm dark matter relics; unstable dark matter decaying either into massless or massive relics; and dark matter undergoing feeble interactions with relativistic relics. We modelled these scenarios at the level of the non-linear matter power spectrum using emulators trained on dedicated N-body simulations. We used a mock Euclid likelihood and Monte Carlo Markov chains to fit mock data and infer error bars on dark matter parameters marginalised over other parameters. We find that the Euclid photometric probe (alone or in combination with cosmic microwave background data from the Planck satellite) will be sensitive to the effect of each of the four dark matter models considered here. The improvement will be particularly spectacular for decaying and interacting dark matter models. With Euclid, the bounds on some dark matter parameters can improve by up to two orders of magnitude compared to current limits. We discuss the dependence of predicted uncertainties on different assumptions: the inclusion of photometric galaxy clustering data, the minimum angular scale taken into account, and modelling of baryonic feedback effects. We conclude that the Euclid mission will be able to measure quantities related to the dark sector of particle physics with unprecedented sensitivity. This will provide important information for model building in high-energy physics. Any hint of a deviation from the minimal cold dark matter paradigm would have profound implications for cosmology and particle physics.

The Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP) on board the satellite provides multiband photometry and $R slitless grism spectroscopy in the 950--2020\,nm wavelength range. In this reference article, we illuminate the background of NISP's functional and calibration requirements, describe the instrument's integral components, and provide all its key properties. We also sketch the processes needed to understand how NISP operates and is calibrated as well as its technical potentials and limitations. Links to articles providing more details and the technical background are included. The NISP's 16 H2RG detectors with a plate scale of $ deliver a field of view of 0.57\,deg$^2$. In photometric mode, NISP reaches a limiting magnitude of sim \,24.5\,AB\,mag in three photometric exposures of about 100\,s in exposure time for point sources and with a S/N of five. For spectroscopy, NISP's point-source sensitivity is a SNR = 3.5 detection of an emission line with flux sim \,$2 $ integrated over two resolution elements of 13.4\ in 3times 560\,s grism exposures at 1.6\ (redshifted Halpha ). Our calibration includes on-ground and in-flight characterisation and monitoring of the pixel-based detector baseline, dark current, non-linearity, and sensitivity to guarantee a relative photometric accuracy better than 1.5 and a relative spectrophotometry better than 0.7. The wavelength calibration must be accurate to 5\ or better. The NISP is the state-of-the-art instrument in the near-infrared for all science beyond small areas available from HST and JWST -- and it represents an enormous advance from any existing instrumentation due to its combination of field size and high throughput of telescope and instrument. During six-year survey covering 14\,000\,deg$^2$ of extragalactic sky, NISP will be the backbone in determining distances of more than a billion galaxies. Its near-infrared data will become a rich reference imaging and spectroscopy data set for the coming decades.

Data from the Euclid space telescope will enable cosmic shear measurements with very small statistical errors, requiring corresponding systematic error control level. A common approach to correct for shear biases involves calibrating shape measurement methods using image simulations with known input shear. Given their high resolution, Hubble Space Telescope (HST) galaxies can, in principle, be utilised to emulate Euclid observations. In this work, we employ a GalSim-based testing environment to investigate whether uncertainties in the HST point spread function (PSF) model or in data processing techniques introduce significant biases in weak-lensing (WL) shear calibration. We used single Sérsic galaxy models to simulate both HST and Euclid observations. We then `Euclidised' our HST simulations and compared the results with the directly simulated Euclid-like images. For this comparison, we utilised a moment-based shape measurement algorithm and galaxy model fits. Through the Euclidisation procedure, we effectively reduced the residual multiplicative biases in shear measurements to sub-percent levels. This achievement was made possible by employing either the native pixel scales of the instruments, utilising the Lanczos15 interpolation kernel, correcting for noise correlations, and ensuring consistent galaxy signal-to-noise ratios between simulation branches. However, the Euclidisation procedure requires further analysis on the impact of the correlated noise, to estimate calibration bias. Additionally, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the accuracy of TinyTim HST PSF models using star fields observed in the F606W and F814W filters. We observe that F606W images exhibit a broader scatter in the recovered best-fit focus, compared to those in the F814W filter.

The near-infrared calibration unit (NI-CU) on board NISP is the first astronomical calibration lamp based on LED to be operated in space. is a mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015--2025 framework to explore the dark universe and provide a next-level characterisation of the nature of gravitation, dark matter, and dark energy. Calibrating photometric and spectrometric measurements of galaxies to better than 1.5 accuracy in a survey homogeneously mapping sim \,14\,000\,deg$^2$ of extragalactic sky requires a very detailed characterisation of NIR detector properties as well as constant monitoring of them in flight. To cover two of the main contributions -- relative pixel-to-pixel sensitivity and non-linearity characteristics -- and to support other calibration activities, NI-CU was designed to provide spatially approximately homogeneous ($<$\,12 variations) and temporally stable illumination (0.1--0.2 over 1200\,s) over the NISP detector plane with minimal power consumption and energy dissipation. NI-CU covers the spectral range sim \,nm -- at cryo-operating temperature -- at five fixed independent wavelengths to capture wavelength-dependent behaviour of the detectors, with fluence over a dynamic range of gtrsim \,100 from sim $. For this functionality, NI-CU is based on LED . We describe the rationale behind the decision and design process, the challenges in sourcing the right LED and the qualification process and lessons learned. We also provide a description of the completed NI-CU, its capabilities, and performance as well as its limits. NI-CU has been integrated into NISP and the satellite, and since launch in July 2023, it has started supporting survey operations.

The current standard model of cosmology successfully describes a variety of measurements, but the nature of its main ingredients, dark matter and dark energy, remains unknown. Euclid is a medium-class mission in the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) that will provide high-resolution optical imaging, as well as near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy, over about 14,000 deg^2 of extragalactic sky. In addition to accurate weak lensing and clustering measurements that probe structure formation over half of the age of the Universe, its primary probes for cosmology, these exquisite data will enable a wide range of science. This paper provides a high-level overview of the mission, summarising the survey characteristics, the various data-processing steps, and data products. We also highlight the main science objectives and expected performance.

Euclid will provide deep near-infrared (NIR) imaging to similar to 26.5 AB magnitude over similar to 59 deg(2) in its deep and auxiliary fields. The Cosmic DAWN survey combines dedicated and archival UV-NIR observations to provide matched depth multiwavelength imaging of the Euclid deep and auxiliary fields. The DAWN survey will provide consistently measured Euclid NIR-selected photometric catalogues, accurate photometric redshifts, and measurements of galaxy properties to a redshift of z similar to 10. The DAWN catalogues include Spitzer IRAC data that are critical for stellar mass measurements at z greater than or similar to 2.5 and high-z science. These catalogues complement the standard Euclid catalogues, which will not include Spitzer IRAC data. In this paper, we present an overview of the survey, including the footprints of the survey fields, the existing and planned observations, and the primary science goals for the combined data set.

To date, galaxy image simulations for weak lensing surveys usually approximate the light profiles of all galaxies as a single or double Sérsic profile, neglecting the influence of galaxy substructures and morphologies deviating from such a simplified parametric characterisation. While this approximation may be sufficient for previous data sets, the stringent cosmic shear calibration requirements and the high quality of the data in the upcoming survey demand a consideration of the effects that realistic galaxy substructures and irregular shapes have on shear measurement biases. Here we present a novel deep learning-based method to create such simulated galaxies directly from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data. We first build and validate a convolutional neural network based on the wavelet scattering transform to learn noise-free representations independent of the point-spread function (PSF) of HST galaxy images. These can be injected into simulations of images from optical instrument VIS without introducing noise correlations during PSF convolution or shearing. Then, we demonstrate the generation of new galaxy images by sampling from the model randomly as well as conditionally. In the latter case, we fine-tune the interpolation between latent space vectors of sample galaxies to directly obtain new realistic objects following a specific Sérsic index and half-light radius distribution. Furthermore, we show that the distribution of galaxy structural and morphological parameters of our generative model matches the distribution of the input HST training data, proving the capability of the model to produce realistic shapes. Next, we quantify the cosmic shear bias from complex galaxy shapes in simulations by comparing the shear measurement biases between a sample of model objects and their best-fit double-Sérsic counterparts, thereby creating two separate branches that only differ in the complexity of their shapes. Using the Kaiser, Squires, and Broadhurst shape measurement algorithm, we find a multiplicative bias difference between these branches with realistic morphologies and parametric profiles on the order of $(6.9± 0.6) $ for a realistic magnitude-Sérsic index distribution. Moreover, we find clear detection bias differences between full image scenes simulated with parametric and realistic galaxies, leading to a bias difference of $(4.0± 0.9) $ independent of the shape measurement method. This makes complex morphology relevant for stage IV weak lensing surveys, exceeding the full error budget of the Euclid Wide Survey (Δμ_