The setting up of the Advanced optics Lab at Tor Vergata for ET officially started on 31 May 2024 at the Department of Physics of Tor Vergata University of Rome. The kick off was attended by prominent figures from the University, including Rector Levialdi Ghiron, INFN Vice-President Marco Pallavicini and the international lead for the Einstein Telescope project.
Once completed, the AiLoV-ET lab will contribute to support the Italian application to host the Einstein Telescope in order to design the future of one of the most promising areas of scientific research such as gravitational waves.
“In the field of advanced optics, where the AiLoV-ET laboratory will be engaged, we do not yet have the technologies that will enable the Einstein Telescope to reach its design sensitivity and explore a volume of the universe at least a thousand times greater than what we can study today with current instruments. These technologies will be developed here and in other labs in the network we are building, thanks to the resources provided by the NRRP for the ETIC project. The Einstein Telescope is a long-term endeavour, in which young researchers, many of whom we have been able to involve thanks to NRRP funds, will play a fundamental role from now and for years to come,” said Michele Punturo, ETIC scientific coordinator.
The lab will be set up within the Department of Physics and INFN Section of Tor Vergata, under the leadership of Prof. Viviana Fafone who, with her team of researchers, will correct the optical defects of the interferometer to minimize the impact of the infinitesimal but inevitable imperfections that would otherwise compromise the sensitivity of the instrument.
