Sanford Underground Research Facility
The Sanford Underground Research Facility is a physics-oriented laboratory set in the former Homestake Gold Mine in Lead, South Dakota. On the cutting edge of physics research, the Sanford Lab is searching for the elusive “dark matter.”
Hosting a number of physics, chemistry, and biology experiments, the Sanford Underground Research Facility is a major contributor in research around the world. The unique location nearly a mile underground allows experiments to take place in isolated environments found almost nowhere else on Earth.
History
The mine’s use as a research lab started in the 1960s, when Ray Davis used the shielded location nearly a mile underground to search for neutrinos. His work would go on to get him a Nobel Prize in Physics. In 2012, the site opened as a research laboratory and science education facility thanks to Barrick Gold Corporation gifting the site and a large donation from philanthropist Denny Sanford.
Large Underground Xenon experiment
The most famous experiment, the Large Underground Xenon experiment (also known as LUX), is searching for dark matter. Scientists believe dark matter makes up 80% of the universe’s mass, yet has gone undetected until now because it almost never interacts with other matter. The LUX experiment uses a large tank of liquid xenon and a series of incredibly sensitive detectors to monitor possible interactions between the xenon and dark matter. The location deep underground helps to eliminate background radiation from the Sun and elsewhere in space. The second and final experiment for LUX has returned negative results for the detection of dark matter; a successor experiment, LUX-ZEPLIN, will be in the same region of the lab and will be 70x more sensitive.
Visiting the Facility
The Sanford Underground Research Facility is on the cutting edge of physics research. While public tours of the lab are not offered inside the mine, trolley tours of Lead, the surface campus, and the Yates Shaft hoistroom are offered at the Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center. Groups can request a guided tour ahead of time on selected dates as well.
Preuss, Paul. “Advancing Underground Science at South Dakota’s Sanford Lab.” Berkeley Lab. 7 June 2012. http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2012/06/07/davis-dedication/
Lesko, K. T. “The Sanford Underground Research Facility at Homestake.” U. C. Berkeley. http://www.phy.ornl.gov/funsym/positions/SURF_whitepaper_DNP_short.pdf
Stacey, Kevin. “World’s most sensitive dark matter detector completes search.” Brown University. 21 July 2016. https://news.brown.edu/articles/2016/07/lux
Sanford Underground Research Facility. http://www.sanfordlab.org/
The Sanford Underground Research Facility is a physics-oriented laboratory set in the former Homestake Gold Mine in Lead, South Dakota. On the cutting edge of physics research, the Sanford Lab is searching for the elusive “dark matter.”
Hosting a number of physics, chemistry, and biology experiments, the Sanford Underground Research Facility is a major contributor in research around the world. The unique location nearly a mile underground allows experiments to take place in isolated environments found almost nowhere else on Earth.
History
The mine’s use as a research lab started in the 1960s, when Ray Davis used the shielded location nearly a mile underground to search for neutrinos. His work would go on to get him a Nobel Prize in Physics. In 2012, the site opened as a research laboratory and science education facility thanks to Barrick Gold Corporation gifting the site and a large donation from philanthropist Denny Sanford.
Large Underground Xenon experiment
The most famous experiment, the Large Underground Xenon experiment (also known as LUX), is searching for dark matter. Scientists believe dark matter makes up 80% of the universe’s mass, yet has gone undetected until now because it almost never interacts with other matter. The LUX experiment uses a large tank of liquid xenon and a series of incredibly sensitive detectors to monitor possible interactions between the xenon and dark matter. The location deep underground helps to eliminate background radiation from the Sun and elsewhere in space. The second and final experiment for LUX has returned negative results for the detection of dark matter; a successor experiment, LUX-ZEPLIN, will be in the same region of the lab and will be 70x more sensitive.
Visiting the Facility
The Sanford Underground Research Facility is on the cutting edge of physics research. While public tours of the lab are not offered inside the mine, trolley tours of Lead, the surface campus, and the Yates Shaft hoistroom are offered at the Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center. Groups can request a guided tour ahead of time on selected dates as well.
Preuss, Paul. “Advancing Underground Science at South Dakota’s Sanford Lab.” Berkeley Lab. 7 June 2012. http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2012/06/07/davis-dedication/
Lesko, K. T. “The Sanford Underground Research Facility at Homestake.” U. C. Berkeley. http://www.phy.ornl.gov/funsym/positions/SURF_whitepaper_DNP_short.pdf
Stacey, Kevin. “World’s most sensitive dark matter detector completes search.” Brown University. 21 July 2016. https://news.brown.edu/articles/2016/07/lux
Sanford Underground Research Facility. http://www.sanfordlab.org/