DOE, NSF to fund LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment at Sanford Lab

The Department of Energy and National Science Foundation selected LUX-ZEPLIN or “LZ” as one of three experiments that will be funded in the next-generation dark matter search. LZ will be deployed at the Sanford Lab in Lead, SD.

Second-generation dark matter experiments are defined as experiments that will be at least 10 times as sensitive as the current crop of dark matter detectors. The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter detector was named the most sensitive in October 2013, after a run of more than three months.

"This is great news in the hunt for dark matter,” said Kevin Lesko, senior physicist with LZ and Berkeley Lab's Physics Division. “With our new detector at Sanford Lab, we plan on getting the experiment up and running in 2018. We’ll continue searching for WIMPS with LUX in the interim.”

Dark matter, so far observed only by its gravitational effects on galaxies and clusters of galaxies, is the predominant form of matter in the universe. Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs)—so-called because they rarely interact with ordinary matter except through gravity—are the leading theoretical candidates for dark matter. The mass of WIMPs is unknown, but theories and results from other experiments suggest a number of possibilities.

LZ will be located in the same cavern underground in which LUX currently operates. The experiment is at the 4850 Level to shield the detector from cosmic rays that constantly bombard the earth.

Sanford Lab has been planning for the next-generation dark matter experiment for several years. Compared to the one-third ton of liquid xenon in LUX, LZ will have 7-tonnes of liquid xenon-based detector inside the same 72,000-gallon tank of pure water used by LUX. LZ is expected to be 1,000 times more sensitive than the LUX detector.

 “This is great news for the future of Dark Matter exploration and the Sanford Lab,” said Mike Headley, Executive Director of the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority. “The LZ experiment will play a key role in the future of the lab and we’re pleased that the DOE selected the experiment. It certainly will extend the state’s investment in this world-class facility.”

Both LUX and LZ include more than 100 collaborators from universities around the world, including two from in state: South Dakota School of Mines & Technology and the University of South Dakota.

For images of LUX, go to: http://pics.sanfordlab.org/p947198975