Leading Xenon Researchers unite to build next-generation Dark Matter Detector
The XENON/DARWIN and LUX-ZEPLIN collaborations have now joined forces to work together on the design, construction, and operation of a new, single, multi-tonne scale xenon observatory to explore dark matter. The detector will be highly sensitive to a wide range of proposed dark matter particles and their interactions with visible matter. Over the last 20+ years, experiments using liquefied xenon targets have delivered world-leading results in the global quest for direct dark matter detection. This next-generation detector aims to continue the pursuit.
Dark matter makes up 85% of the matter in the Universe, but its nature remains a mystery. The direct identification of the dark matter particle is amongst the highest priorities in science and also one of the most challenging. The primary science goal of the new joint observatory is to reach a sensitivity for detecting dark matter in our galaxy by at least a factor of 10 beyond that of the current generation of detectors.
The current xenon-based experiments XENONnT and LUX-ZEPLIN will start their first science runs in 2021, to lead the race to detect the first signs of new particles and interactions. These experiments employ 5.9 and 7.0 tonnes of liquid xenon for the search, respectively. The LUX-ZEPLIN experiment operates at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in the USA. The XENONnT experiment is located at the INFN Gran Sasso Laboratory (LNGS) in Italy. DARWIN is the evolution of the XENON program and includes additional groups, focusing on several R&D aspects required for the much larger detector.
Beyond its unparalleled sensitivity to dark matter, the detector’s large mass and unprecedented low background level will also enable world-leading searches for additional signatures of physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics that would similarly revolutionize our understanding of the universe. In particular, the secondary science goal will be the search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in xenon, shedding light on the nature of the neutrino and the imbalance of matter and antimatter in the universe. The observatory will also perform searches for other rare processes and particles such as axions, hypothetical particles that might be emitted from the Sun. It will also measure neutrinos created in the Sun, the Earth’s atmosphere, and potentially those from Galactic supernovae.
The new multi-tonne liquid xenon detector will combine the most successful technologies employed in rare-event searches with xenon detectors, including those developed for XENONnT and LUX-ZEPLIN, and from targeted R&D including that supported under DARWIN.
After a very successful first joint workshop [1] in April 2021, 104 research group leaders from 16 countries have signed a memorandum of understanding on July 6, 2021. Scientific cooperation has now begun to realize this next-generation rare event observatory.
The Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) and Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) are distributing this press release on behalf of the DARWIN and LZ collaborations. The location of the proposed experiment has yet to be determined.
[1] Details of the Workshop and the Full List of Signatories can be viewed at
https://indico.cern.ch/event/1028794/
The scientists that have signed the memorandum of understanding on July 6, 2021 are:
Daniel Akerib, SLAC National Accelerator Lab, United States
Elena Aprile, Columbia University, United States
Henrique Araujo, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Francesco Arneodo, New York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Laura Baudis, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Anwar Bhatti, University of Maryland, United States
Tomasz Biesiadzinski, SLAC National Accelerator Lab, United States
Amos Breskin, Weizmann Institute, Israel
Ethan Brown, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, United States
Ranny Budnik, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
Sergey Burdin, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Carmen Carmona-Benitez, Pennsylvania State University, United States
Auke Colijn, University of Amsterdam / Nikhef, Netherlands
Jan Conrad, Stockholm University, Sweden
Luiz de Viveiros, Pennsylvania State University, United States
Michal Patrick Decowski, Nikhef and the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
James Dobson, University College London, United Kingdom
Guido Drexlin, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany
Klaus Eitel, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany
Alfredo Davide Ferella, University of L'Aquila and INFN-LNGS, Italy
Peter Fischer, Heidelberg University, Germany
Henning Flaecher, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Richard Gaitskell, Brown University, United States
Michelle Galloway, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Chamkaur Ghag, University College London, United Kingdom
Luca Grandi, The University of Chicago, United States
Carter Hall, University of Maryland, United States
Stephanie Hansmann-Menzemer, Universität Heidelberg, Germany
Scott Hertel, U. Massachusetts, Amherst, United States
Markus Horn, Sanford Underground Research Facility, United States
Michele Iacovacci, Università di Napoli "Federico II" and INFN-Napoli, Italy
Christina Ignarra, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, United States
Yoshitaka Itow, ISEE/KMI Nagoya University, Japan
Asher Kaboth, Royal Holloway, United Kingdom
Alvine Kamaha, University at Albany, SUNY, United States
Yeongduk Kim, Institute for Basic Science, South Korea
Hans Kraus, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Lawrence Krauss, Origins Project Foundation, United States
Vitaly Kudryavtsev, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
Hagar Landsman, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
Rafael Lang, Purdue University, United States
Jaison Lee, Institute for Basic Science, Korea
Douglas Leonard, IBS Center for Underground Physics, South Korea
Cecilia Levy, UAlbany SUNY, United States
Manfred Lindner, Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Germany
Hugh Lippincott, UCSB, United States
Isabel Lopes, Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas (LIP), Portugal
Wolfgang Lorenzon, University of Michigan, United States
Steffen Luitz, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, United States
Carla Macolino, Università degli studi dell'Aquila and INFN-LNGS, Italy
Joern Mahlstedt, Stockholm University, Sweden
Aaron Manalaysay, United States
Teresa Marrodán Undagoitia, Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany
Kai Martens, Kavli IPMU, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Julien Masbou, Subatech, France
José Matias-Lopes, University of Coimbra, Portugal
Daniel McKinsey, University of California, Berkeley, United States
Kentaro Miuchi, Kobe University, Japan
Maria Elena Monzani, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, United States
Brianna Mount, Black Hills State University, United States
Alexander Murphy, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Harry Nelson, UCSB, United States
Dave Newbold, STFC/Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, United Kingdom
Francisco Neves, LIP, Portugal
Kaixuan Ni, University of California San Diego, United States
Uwe Oberlack, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
Igor Ostrovskiy, University of Alabama, United States
Kimberly Palladino, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Mila Pandurovic, Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Serbia
Bjoern Penning, University of Michigan, United States
Guillaume Plante, Columbia University, United States
Tina Rosalia Pollmann, Nikhef/UvA, Netherlands
Gabriella Sartorelli, Bologna University and INFN-Bologna, Italy
Richard Schnee, South Dakota Mines, United States
Hans-Christian Schultz-Coulon, Heidelberg University, Kirchhoff-Institut für Physik, Germany
Marc Schumann, University of Freiburg, Germany
Luca Scotto Lavina, LPNHE, France
Marco Selvi, INFN-Bologna, Italy
Petr Shagin, Rice University, United States
Tom Shutt, SLAC, United States
Hardy Simgen, Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Germany
Vladimir Solovov, LIP-Coimbra, Portugal
Peter Sorensen, United States
Ion Stancu, University of Alabama, United States
Tim Sumner, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Matthew Szydagis, UAlbany SUNY, United States
Dominique Thers, Subatech/In2p3-CNRS, France
Daniel Tovey, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
Gian Carlo Trinchero, INAF Osservatorio Astrofisico and INFN-Torino, Italy
Roberto Trotta, Imperial College London and SISSA, United Kingdom/Italy
Christopher Tunnell, Rice University, United States
Belina von Krosigk, Universität Hamburg, Germany
Antonin Vacheret, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Kathrin Valerius, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany
Juijen (Ryan) Wang, University of Alabama, United States
Christian Weinheimer, University of Münster, Germany
Frank Wolfs, University of Rochester, United States
Michael Wurm, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
Jingke Xu, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, United States
Masaki Yamashita, Kavli IPMU The University of Tokyo, Japan
Liang Yang, University of California San Diego, United States
Minfang Yeh, Brookhaven National Laboratory, United States
Guido Zavattini, University of Ferrara and INFN-Ferrara, Italy
Kai Zuber, TU Dresden, Germany
Contact
Swiss Institute of Particle Physics (CHIPP)
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UZH
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