The Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics is one of the four partners in the international consortium GWSky, which the European Research Council has awarded 12 million euros to develop a deeper understanding of gravitational waves. Existing and future gravitational-wave detectors will be capable of observing signals with such precision that they may reveal possible deviations from Einstein’s general theory of relativity and the standard model of particle physics. To fully exploit this unique instrumental capability, fundamental advances are required in the theoretical description of black holes and their dynamics, the gravitational waves they emit, their cosmic environment, and the physics beyond the standard model. To provide the necessary theoretical…

Development of High-purity Silicon Mirrors for the Einstein Telescope The Einstein Telescope (ET) will be a third-generation detector with a tenfold increase in sensitivity for gravitational waves that will expand the observing window for previously hidden cosmic events. ET will have the potential to discover new, so far unknown sources of gravitational waves. To achieve this extremely high sensitivity, the interferometer’s mirrors will be made of silicon crystals. Crystalline silicon offers excellent material properties for detection at cryogenic temperatures, where the interferometer will operate to minimise thermal noise. High-purity silicon mirrors The mirrors of the interferometer will be made of ultra-pure and highly perfect crystalline silicon to ensure that the…