Einstein Telescope EMR Site & Technology

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The ultimate goal of the E-TEST project is to have in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine a world-leading laboratory, a gravitational wave detector also known as the Einstein Telescope. Understanding the beginning of the Universe is the dream of Humanity. Thanks to gravitational waves, the region’s leading scientists, engineers and high-level technology SMEs and the specific cross-border geological conditions, this will be made possible. To achieve this, it will require an ultra-cold innovative new observational instrument installed in a large infrastructure buried at 300 m deep in the for attenuating vibrations induced human activity, wind or ground motion.   E-TEST will first provide a publicly available open model and observatory of the subsurface that will serve a wide range of identified stakeholders. It will consolidate the optimal location and design for the Einstein Telescope within the Euregion Meuse-Rhine. Second, E-TEST will develop and build one of the major key element of the gravitational wave detector that will bring together high-tech SMEs and research institutions to enable the Einstein Telescope technology.   The first territorial challenge of E-TEST lies both in the size of the Einstein Telescope, spanning roughly a triangle of sides 10 km long in the area between The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and in the depth at which the infrastructure is to be located. The second territorial challenge requires knowledge institutes and enterprises of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine to bring their technology level to the next level. It is worth noting that all the required skills are present in the EMR. ETEST is then a unique opportunity to make people works in collective intelligence way to create innovative breakthroughs, including enterprises, research center and every socio-economical stakeholder.     Main activities concern first the development of a new prototype involving ultra-cold temperature, power laser, utltra-high vacuum, high-precision mirrors and seismic isolation for validating experimentally technologies which will be used in the future Einstein Telescope whatever its location. Second, main activities concern eco-friendly and non-invasive imaging of the geological conditions as well as the development of an underground observatory of the underground in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine region.    As a result, the future Einstein Telescope location and design in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine will be obtained while various identified stakeholders, ranging from SMEs to sectoral agencies, will directly benefit from the advanced studies of the subsurface. The validation of the prototype will enable key technologies in the race to observe gravitational waves and foster an innovation driven community of SMEs and knowledge institutes. All parties are expected to benefit from the high-technology level exposure of E-TEST either by entering new markets, transfer their technology to other horizons and increase their cross-border activities as has been already shown by two economic impact studies related to the Einstein Telescope and the Euregio Meuse-Rhine.   The E-TEST consortium is unique and builtds on the complementary expertise of Dutch, German and Belgian partners in advanced underground studies and high-level technology engineering. Given the diversity of the challenges to tackle, no single country nor region possess all expertise to address the E-TEST project. Euregional cooperation allows to have this complete set of skills with cross-border cooperation to reach the objectives of E-TEST and to position the Euregio Meuse-Rhine consortium as a leader for the next generation of gravitational wave detectors, that will allow to pursue the exploration of the universe through gravitational wave astronomy, and to address fundamental questions of the human kind like the origin of the universe.

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