“An underground observatory capable of detecting gravitational waves coming from the confines of the universe? A new step has just been taken towards the realization of this project”, reveals the American magazine Science. Last week, the Netherlands announced that it was ready to invest 870 million euros for the construction of the future Einstein telescope, if it were built in the region of southern Limburg, bordering Belgium and the ‘Germany.
This sum would be added to the 42 million euros already planned by the Dutch government to finance the preparatory work and in particular the search for an ideal place to accommodate this new scientific equipment. In addition, this amount represents almost half of the total construction cost of this project, estimated at 1.75 billion euros, according to Science.
Netherlands, Italy or Germany?
The Einstein telescope is not a traditional observatory with antennae turned towards the stars, as one might imagine. It is a high-precision scientific instrument equipped with three giant laser interferometers, 10 kilometers long, capable of detecting the tiny jolts in space-time known as “gravitational waves”. The assembly is buried so as not to be exposed to surface seismic noise. This is an improved version of the Ligo and Virgo equipment, which made it possible to detect, for the first time in 2015, these jolts predicted by Albert Einstein.
“This [généreuse] promise [de financement] gives a clear advantage to the Dutch project to locate the future Einstein telescope”, ensures to Science Stan Bentvelsen, director of the Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics (Nikhef) and leader of this proposal. “The Dutch state is getting a hell of a head start.”
Because, if it has been in the pipeline for several years, this project still has to go through a few stages before seeing the light of day. Last year, it was included in the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (Esfri) roadmap for very large European infrastructures. It will be necessary to wait until 2025 before an international jury looks at the various proposals and decides on its location.
For the moment, the project carried by the Netherlands has only one rival, Italian this one. “[Cette autre proposition] would place the Einstein Telescope near an old zinc mine, near the town of Lula, in Sardinia”, reports Science, which specifies that Germany could also make an offer. It would thus propose to establish the Einstein telescope in Saxony, where the coal industry has declined.