The Einstein Telescope (ET) is a European scientific project of extraordinary scope, aimed at building a next-generation gravitational wave detector capable of detecting minute distortions in spacetime itself with unprecedented sensitivity. Hidden deep underground, the instrument is expected to detect up to a thousand times more cosmic collisions of black holes and neutron stars than today’s observatories and track their evolution throughout the history of the universe. These new observations could help scientists explain the formation of galaxies or shed light on certain aspects of the early universe shortly after the Big Bang.
“For me personally, the Einstein Telescope is the most important future European scientific project. Thanks to this unique facility, we will for the first time detect gravitational waves that have traveled to us across the entire observable universe and capture a time when the universe was still very young,” says Michael Prouza, director of the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, who is also the head of the only Czech research group that is an official member of the Einstein Telescope scientific collaboration and the principal investigator of the proposed large research infrastructure for the experimental detection of gravitational waves in the Czech Republic.
Construction of the project is expected to begin in 2030, with research operations set to launch in 2035. The current budget for the Einstein Telescope is 2.5 billion euros. Half of the funds are needed for tunnel construction, while the other half covers the cost of manufacturing the detection equipment – the laser interferometer.
On Monday in Prague, leading European scientists in the field of gravitational wave research described the Einstein Telescope project and the technological challenges that need to be addressed:
- Michele Punturo, an Italian experimental physicist specializing in the development of a new generation of gravitational wave detectors and spokesperson for the Einstein Telescope scientific collaboration, provided basic information about the project.
- Belgian theoretical physicist Archisman Ghosh, together with Italian astrophysicist Marica Branchesi, presented the project’s scientific goals and the new insights it will provide.
- Italian physicist Luca Naticchioni is one of the leaders of the collaboration’s division responsible for the detector’s design and its technological implementation.
- French experimental physicist Patrice Verdier is involved in the development of computational technologies for laser interferometers. He highlighted the project’s extraordinary demands on computational capacity and explained the processes required for signal processing.
At this point, it is not yet clear where the Einstein Telescope will be built or what its spatial configuration will be. Options under consideration include either an equilateral triangle with 10-kilometer-long arms at one of the candidate sites, or two “L”-shaped interferometers with 15-kilometer-long arms at two different locations. Preliminary indications suggest that the “L”-shaped configuration would be more sensitive and efficient, though also more expensive.
Three candidate sites have submitted official applications, which were presented during the seminar by leading scientists from each country. Geographically, the site closest to the Czech Republic would be in Upper Lusatia; another candidate is a former mining site in northern Sardinia; and the third is the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion, in the border triangle of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. A decision on the location and configuration of the detector is expected to be made later this year. The construction of such a large-scale scientific infrastructure represents a significant investment in the selected location, as well as future jobs. Therefore, in addition to scientists, the selection process is of interest to political representatives of all the countries and specific regions under consideration.
In addition to the countries vying to become the construction site, a total of 31 countries from around the world are involved in the project. The Czech Republic is participating in the project as a scientific partner through the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, three other institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and four universities (Charles University, the Czech Technical University in Prague, Masaryk University, and the University of Life Sciences). The Czech Republic is also currently considering representation on the board of government representatives, which will decide on both the location and key issues regarding the project’s implementation.
Discussions regarding the specific contributions of individual countries are still ongoing, but the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences and other partners from the Czech Republic are offering experts in data analysis and simulations, as well as in detector control systems and their operation. A very significant contribution from the Czech Republic to the construction of the detector itself is also expected. The scientific collaboration has already expressed keen interest, for example, in Faraday isolators for high-power lasers, which the HiLASE laser center, part of the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, is capable of manufacturing as one of the few institutions in the world – , or in unique optical elements that can be manufactured at the Joint Laboratory of Optics in Olomouc, which is a joint facility of the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Palacký University in Olomouc.
Photo: Tomáš Belloň
