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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 May 2003
A definition study for a Ground-based European NullingInterferometry Experiment (GENIE) has been initiated by theEuropean Space Agency (ESA) and the European SouthernObservatory (ESO). This instrument is planned to be installed in 2006 on the VLTI at Mount Paranal, Chile. The primaryobjective of the GENIE experiment is to gain experience in the design, manufacture and operation ofa nulling interferometer using a Darwin representative technology. Besides its technological goal,GENIE is designed to survey exozodiacal dust clouds around nearby stars and to study the brightestof them by means of low-resolution spectroscopy. GENIE also aims at low-mass companion detection,including hot Jupiters. In this paper, the expected performances of the GENIE interferometer areinvestigated as a function of the observation wavelength and of the performances of criticalsubsystems.