The Dutch Black Hole Consortium

This proposal, put forward by a new and interdisciplinary Dutch Black Hole Consortium (DBHC), has the ambition to address the main and central questions underlying Route 2:

“What are black holes, and what are the building blocks of matter
and the fundaments of space and time?”

These are big and long-standing open questions in science, but now is a unique time to attack them head on. With the current gravitational wave telescopes and the Event Horizon Telescope, both with strong contributions from the Netherlands, the DBHC will analyse and study a wealth of new data in the upcoming years. These new unprecedented data and images will allow us to test Einstein’s theory of gravity and black holes with great precision and promise to reveal the secrets that further revolutionize our ideas and thinking about the universe. Constructing a new theory that properly describes black holes is one of the main questions in physics and science in general, and it would be a major breakthrough if we can make important progress during the time of our proposal.

Part of this proposal is on developing new technology and doing geological and seismic research in preparation of the upcoming Einstein Telescope (ET) that might find its location in South-Limburg. The development of the ET is one of the grand challenges and game changers of Route 2 and physicists, instrumentalists and geologists from our consortium will perform detailed research in South-Limburg to test if the location is suitable.

A specially designed “Dutch Black Hole Consortium” will carry out an interdisciplinary research program, from developing telescope technology and doing geological research, to pure astronomy and foundational questions, curiosity driven, and with an educational and citizen science program and two museum exhibitions to further enhance societal impact.