The Science of the Einstein Telescope

Michele Maggiore, Adrian Abac, Raul Abramo, Simone Albanesi, Angelica Albertini, Alessandro Agapito, Tomás Andrade, Pierre Auclair, Charles Badger, Biswajit Banerjee, David Barba-González, Dániel Barta, Nicola Bartolo, Andrea Begnoni, Freija Beirnaert, Michał Bejger, Enis Belgacem, Laura Bernard, Maria Grazia Bernardini, Sebastiano Bernuzzi, Emanuele Berti, Gianfranco Bertone, Dario Bettoni, Simone Blasi,Nicola Borghi, Ssohrab Borhanian, Marica Branchesi, Matteo Breschi, Richard Brito, Alessandra Buonanno, Giulia Cusin, Gergely Dálya, Paolo D'Avanzo, Nazanin Davari, Valerio De Luca, Viola De Renzis, Massimo Della Valle, Walter Del Pozzo, Federico De Santi, Irina Dvorkin et al. (445 additional authors not shown)

15/3/25 Published in : arXiv:2503.12263

Einstein Telescope (ET) is the European project for a gravitational-wave (GW) observatory of third-generation. In this paper we present a comprehensive discussion of its science objectives, providing state-of-the-art predictions for the capabilities of ET in both geometries currently under consideration, a single-site triangular configuration or two L-shaped detectors. We discuss the impact that ET will have on domains as broad and diverse as fundamental physics, cosmology, early Universe, astrophysics of compact objects, physics of matter in extreme conditions, and dynamics of stellar collapse. We discuss how the study of extreme astrophysical events will be enhanced by multi-messenger observations. We highlight the ET synergies with ground-based and space-borne GW observatories, including multi-band investigations of the same sources, improved parameter estimation, and complementary information on astrophysical or cosmological mechanisms obtained combining observations from different frequency bands. We present advancements in waveform modeling dedicated to third-generation observatories, along with open tools developed within the ET Collaboration for assessing the scientific potentials of different detector configurations. We finally discuss the data analysis challenges posed by third-generation observatories, which will enable access to large populations of sources and provide unprecedented precision.

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Phase I & II research project(s)

Field Theory

Phase III direction(s)

From Field Theory to Geometry and Topology

A localising AdS_3 sigma model

Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry