Join us in the IAS-SPMS Distinguished Speaker Seminar on 15 May 2025 (Thur), 11am to 12.30pm by our distinguished speaker, Prof Fernando Ferroni, Former President of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics, Italy and Emeritus Professor at Gran Sasso Science Institute.

About the talk

Gravitational waves, detected in 2015 a century after their prediction, have opened a revolutionary way to explore the Universe. The merging of black holes and neutron stars has been studied, and the simultaneous detection of gravitational waves and gamma-ray bursts marked the beginning of multi-messenger astronomy.

To push beyond the limitations of current detectors like LIGO (USA) and VIRGO (Italy), a third-generation observatory, the Einstein Telescope, is being developed by a large European collaboration. It will consist of a low-frequency cryogenic interferometer and a high-frequency, high-power laser interferometer, both housed underground to minimise noise, with a total length of about 30 km.

Key technologies include advanced lasers, seismic noise suppression, and quantum squeezing. The Einstein Telescope aims to drive innovation and make breakthroughs in astronomy, cosmology, and physics, working in cooperation and competition with the US project Cosmic Explorer.

Our Distinguished Speaker

Prof Ferroni was the long-term president of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics. He has contributed to groundbreaking experiments at CERN in Switzerland, SLAC in the USA, and the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory in Italy. He is also a recipient of the prestigious European Research Council grant.

Co-Organisers

and in partnership with Embassy of Italy Singapore