Europe begins designing the third-generation gravitational wave telescope
After the EU provided 3 million euros in funding for a design study, physicists have unveiled their plans for a gravitational wave telescope, which opens a new window for studying the universe.
Researchers hope that the 1 billion euro Einstein Telescope (ET) will not only be able to detect so-called spacetime micro-pulsations — many detectors aim to achieve this goal within the next decade — but also make detailed observations of the cosmic catastrophes that form them, including black hole or neutron star mergers and supernova collapses.
Michele Punturo, scientific coordinator of the Einstein Telescope from the National Institute for Nuclear Physics in Perugia, Italy, said: "It will provide a complementary image of the universe related to mass."
According to predictions made by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, detecting gravitational waves is notoriously difficult.
Current detectors include the twin LIGO instruments in the US, Virgo and GEO600 in Europe, and TAMA in Japan. So far, these studies have been fruitless, although they have limited gravitational emissions from different potential sources.
These detectors work by allowing laser beams to repeatedly bounce along two orthogonal arms thousands of meters long.
When a gravitational wave crosses the detector, it compresses one arm and stretches the other, at which point an interferometer located on both arms attempts to measure this tiny length difference — less than the width of an atomic nucleus.
LIGO and Virgo are currently undergoing version upgrades, increasing their sensitivity at least tenfold over the original levels.
Researchers hope that after these second-generation detectors go online in 2015, they will be able to detect tens of thousands of potential sources annually.
Punturo pointed out: "If no source is detected after one year, then either the theory or the detector has problems."
The Einstein Telescope is the first representative of the third-generation detectors, aiming to achieve another tenfold improvement plan.
The detection arms of the Einstein Telescope will be 10 kilometers long and will be built in tunnels more than 100 meters underground. These tunnels will actually contain two detectors operating at different frequencies, together covering all frequencies detectable on Earth, from 1 Hz to 10 kHz.
Researchers hope that the role of the Einstein Telescope will go far beyond simple potential source detection and distinguishing some of their properties. If lucky, it will be able to traverse the history of the universe, returning to before the formation of the cosmic microwave background radiation when the universe was opaque to electromagnetic radiation.
The three-year Einstein Telescope design study will involve more than 200 scientists. The researchers' current goal is to assemble their own team and begin developing the laser, optical, and mechanical technologies necessary for building the Einstein Telescope.
Punturo said: "We need to convert the collection of this concept into a real device." To achieve this goal, researchers will need more funding, and they must also engage in a delicate collaboration process with national funding agencies to secure funding for the construction of the Einstein Telescope.