Archimedes is ready. The construction of the experiment, which aims to “weigh the vacuum” by measuring the interaction between electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations and the gravitational field, was completed in recent days. This is the first physics experiment hosted by the SAR-GRAV laboratory in the area of the former Sos Enattos mine, a candidate site for the future Einstein Telescope gravitational wave observatory.
The experimental setup – developed and enclosed in a large vacuum chamber almost two meters high – includes a suspended balance with two samples at its ends, a thermal system to control the temperature of one of them, and a second arm that isolates the balance from ground movements.
A significant innovation is the installation of a pumping system similar to the one used in the Virgo experiment, which allowed researchers, in just over a day, to reach a vacuum level sufficient to start the first calibration measurement campaign at room temperature.
Thanks to the exceptionally quiet environment – also ideal for the future Einstein Telescope – Archimedes will soon be able to carry out its first fundamental physics measurements in the Sos Enattos laboratories.
The Archimedes experiment is coordinated by Enrico Calloni – from the University of Naples “Federico II” and the Naples section of National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) – and is the result of a collaboration led by the INFN, which includes the Universities of Sassari, “Federico II” and Sapienza of Rome, the European Gravitational Observatory (EGO), the National Institute of Optics of the CNR (CNR-INO), and the Center for Theoretical Physics of the University of Marseille (France).
