An opportunity worth six billion euros spread over nine years thanks to the study of gravitational waves. This is the economic impact estimated with the construction of the Einstein Telescope in the Sos Enattos mine in Lula in the province of Nuoro. That is the observatory for the study of gravitational waves at a depth of two hundred meters, in the tunnels dug, starting from 1868 by the Paganelli company, to extract galena, blende (from which lead and zinc are obtained) and silver, but closed for decades.
The resources of the Region
To achieve this goal, given that Europe has yet to decide in which site to host the technology and instrumentation needed to study gravitational waves (Sos Enattos and a site in Limburg proposed by Nikhef’s Dutch group are running), the Region decided to include the project in the investment plan presented under the Recovery Fund with an expenditure program of 300 million euros.
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The economic impact
“This is a strategic project that will have a great impact on the economy and development of the island – announces the president of the Region Christian Solinas – for this reason we have decided to support it with an important investment”. That is, 300 million euros “against a total construction cost of 1.7 billion which will be covered, for the remainder, by national and European funds”. The total economic impact calculated by the Region is “6 billion euros in the nine years required for construction, plus an annual value of approximately 127 million euros and over 700 jobs when it comes into operation”. Relapses in the region have been estimated at 50-60 per cent.
Ideal place for research
The ideal place, both for the silence linked to the low population and for the seismic silence linked to the presence of granite rock, is the subsoil of the mining site where mining has ceased for decades. Here the project involves the construction of a “gigantic triangular underground interferometer to search for gravitational waves”. The observatory, using the infrastructure of the wells and tunnels, will be located at a depth of about 200 meters, will have a perimeter of about 30 kilometers made up of arms 10 kilometers long. If a gravitational wave passes through the interferometer, the length of the arms fluctuates and this infinitesimal variation is revealed by the experiment. “Its sensitivity will allow us to ‘listen’ to a universe volume at least a thousand times higher than that observed by the current network of advanced detectors”.
The developments
In this journey there are also the technological developments that will concern very high sensitivity sensors, low noise control systems, precision mechanics, quantum optics, as well as high-power lasers and artificial intelligence.