Birmingham experts help to explore building blocks of Universe

University of Birmingham experts are helping to design a new device to detect the elusive dark matter particles thought to make up most of the Universe.

They will join counterparts from universities across the UK to develop initial plans and design components for the world’s largest and most advanced dark matter detector.

The team will work with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Boulby Underground Laboratory over the next three-and-a-half years. Once completed, the experiment could be hosted at Boulby - the UK’s deep underground science facility.

Backed by a preliminary award of £8 million from the UKRI Infrastructure Fund the consortium of UK universities will form part of the Xenon Lux-Zeplin Darwin (XLZD) Consortium for dark matter research.

One of the main aims of the consortium is to build a definitive experiment to detect dark matter and explore its properties and origin.

The detector will consist of a large underground “thermos flask” containing up to 100T of liquid xenon, which scientists believe will react subtly with dark matter as it passes through the Earth. Tiny, but detectable, flashes of light will be generated as evidence of the presence of dark matter particles and recorded for scientists to analyse.

Dr Patrick Knights from the University of Birmingham commented: “The nature of dark matter remains one of the great mysteries of the universe. We are excited at the prospect of hosting this flagship, next generation experiment in the UK and helping to shape our understanding of the universe.

“Scientists at the University of Birmingham will play a leading role in developing and applying the highly pure materials needed for the most sensitive components of the XLZD experiment to enable it to achieve its dark matter detection potential.”

UKRI Infrastructure Fund resources will support development of initial plans for how best to host and run the experiment, as well as developing essential components required for constructing the detector.

Although it remains to be decided exactly where the experiment will be located, this foundational work by UK universities and Boulby Underground Laboratory will be crucial in deciding how best to build the experiment for success.

If the project is hosted at Boulby, this will be amongst the largest and most significant UK-based science projects in over 50 years, attracting international scientists to the North East region.

The project team comprises colleagues from the University of Birmingham, as well as Bristol University, Edinburgh University, Imperial College London, King’s College London, Liverpool University, Oxford University, Queen Mary, University of London, Royal Holloway, University of London, Sheffield University, Sussex University, and teams from STFC’s Daresbury and Rutherford Appleton Laboratories.