On November 25, a joint team of researchers from the Rome and Cagliari sections of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), the University of Naples “Federico II,” the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), and the German Center for Astrophysics (DZA) installed an advanced measurement station for electromagnetic noise near Bautzen, in Saxony, at the candidate site to host the Einstein Telescope (ET).
The installation of high-precision magnetometers – provided by the Milan-Bicocca section of INFN in collaboration with the Pisa section of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) – is essential for identifying and studying sources of interference of both natural and anthropogenic origin in the area. These measurements are crucial to ensure that the selected site (or sites) offers the environmental silence necessary for the extraordinary sensitivity required by ET.
The initiative is part of a close collaboration among researchers involved in characterizing two of the candidate European sites to host ET: Sos Enattos in Sardinia and Lusatia in Germany. The cooperation is also strategic in view of the option for a “double L” configuration of ET: this proposal envisions the possibility of building two separate observatories, one in Sardinia and one in Lusatia, which would operate in coincidence to maximize sensitivity and the ability to locate cosmic sources. Data collected from electromagnetic noise monitoring, as well as seismic noise measurements, are vital to qualify both sites. Following Sardinia, electromagnetic background noise can now also be studied in Saxony to understand its potential impacts on ET.
«Sharing data and methodologies between the Italian and German teams is a key element», emphasizes Luca Naticchioni, a researcher at INFN Rome and member of the Italian research group involved in the Saxony mission. «The goal is to provide the international ET scientific collaboration with the most complete environmental characterization possible, a fundamental prerequisite for the construction of the observatory».
The researchers who participated in the scientific activities in Saxony are Andrea Contu and Angelo Loi (INFN Cagliari), Rosario De Rosa (University of Naples “Federico II” and INFN), Luca Naticchioni (INFN Rome), Mike Lindner (DESY-DZA), David Becker (DZA-ZTE) and Markus Lehmann (DZA-ZTE). The following collaborated in providing and testing the instrumentation: Luciano Errico (INFN Naples), Carlo Giunchi (INGV Pisa), and Davide Rozza (University of Milan-Bicocca and INFN), with the support of Domenico D’Urso (University of Sassari and INFN) and Andreas Rietbrock (KIT).
Installation of an advanced measurement station for electromagnetic noise near Bautzen, in Saxony.