Site-selection criteria for the Einstein Telescope
Florian Amann, Fabio Bonsignorio, T. Bulik, Henk Jan Bulten, Stefano Cuccuru, Alain Dassargues, R. DeSalvo, E. Fenyvesi, F. Fidecaro, I. Fiori, Carlo Giunchi, A. Grado, J. Harms, S. Koley, László Kovács, G. Losurdo, Vuk Mandic, P. M. Meyers, L. Naticchioni, Frédéric Nguyen, Giacomo Oggiano, Marco Olivieri, F. Paoletti, Andrea Paoli, W. Plastino, M. Razzano, Paolo Ruggi, Gilberto Saccorotti, A. M. Sintes, László Somlai, P. Ván, M. Vasúth
Abstract
The Einstein Telescope (ET) is a proposed next-generation, underground gravitational-wave detector to be based in Europe. It will provide about an order of magnitude sensitivity increase with respect to the currently operating detectors and, also extend the observation band targeting frequencies as low as 3 Hz. One of the first decisions that needs to be made is about the future ET site following an in-depth site characterization. Site evaluation and selection is a complicated process, which takes into account science, financial, political, and socio-economic criteria. In this paper, we provide an overview of the site-selection criteria for ET, provide a formalism to evaluate the direct impact of environmental noise on ET sensitivity, and outline the necessary elements of a site-characterization campaign.