Construction of Most Sensitive Dark Matter Detector Moves Forward

Construction of Most Sensitive Dark Matter Detector Moves Forward
by Staff Writers
Berkeley CA (SPX) Sep 29, 2016

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A cutaway rendering of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) detector that will be installed nearly a mile deep near Lead, S.D. The central chamber will be filled with 10 metric tons of purified liquid xenon that produces flashes of light and electrical pulses in particle interactions. An array of detectors, known as photomultiplier tubes, at the top and bottom of the liquid xenon tank are designed to pick up these particle signals. Image courtesy Matt Hoff and Berkeley Lab. For a larger version of this image please go here.
LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ), a next-generation dark matter detector that will be at least 100 times more sensitive than its predecessor, has cleared another approval milestone and is on schedule to begin its deep-underground hunt for theoretical particles known as WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles, in 2020.

WIMPs are among the top prospects for explaining dark matter, the unseen stuff that we have observed only through gravitational effects.

Last month, LZ received an important U.S. Department of Energy approval (known as Critical Decision 2 and 3b) for the project's overall scope, cost and schedule. The latest approval step sets in motion the buildout of major components and the preparation of its nearly mile-deep lair at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, S.D.

The experiment is designed to tease out dark matter signals from within a chamber filled with 10 metric tons of purified liquid xenon, one of the rarest elements on Earth. The project is supported by a collaboration of more than 30 institutions and about 200 scientists worldwide.

more at....
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/C...e_Dark_Matter_Detector_Moves_Forward_999.html