UC Dark Matter Search Initiative: Synergistic opportunities
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: UC Dark Matter Search Initiative Emerging experimental opportunities and synergetic prospects The nature of the dark matter in the universe is one of the fundamental questions of modern science and in the next few years our understanding is likely to be transformed by the results of a number of existing experiments ranging from underground detectors to accelerators and to gamma ray telescopes on the ground or in space. The next five years will also be critical for two major initiatives that, if approved, would bring a new level of sensitivity to dark matter searches: The Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory and a large array of atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. The combination of the fast evolving science and these new facilities represents a unique opportunity for UC system-wide and its laboratories to contribute to the solving of the dark matter problem and to position UC at the core of major projects, representing a total investment of some 1.5 billion dollars for DUSEL and of the order of 150 million dollars for the Cherenkov telescopes. Building on the relationships developed across the UC system by the UC Institute for Nuclear and Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (INPAC— a Multi-Campus Research Unit), we propose a UC Dark Matter Search Initiative that will combine a) workshops, courses and seminars that will stimulate exchanges between theorists, astronomers and experimentalists across the UC system to interpret new results and define new directions, and b) engineering and critical R&amp;D which will help define the two facilities and their scientific program in a way that is maximally responsive to a fast evolving science. Although small compared to the final scale of those projects, the proposed investment by UC of some $2M in the next five years will help mobilize the complementary set of expertise across our campuses and labs, and it will clearly aid establishing UC leadership in these two facilities. It will also be powerful in helping the national and international communities unify around a few experimental projects. Last but not least, this initiative represents an excellent opportunity for our graduate students and postdocs (in particular with the proposed teleconferenced graduate courses and travel support for collaborative work), and the proposed workshops will enhance the impact of this effort on a number of related fields and on activities important for California (in particular sensitive particle detectors for Homeland security and non proliferation, trace analysis, medical imaging or environment monitoring). The initiative will involve all of the campuses with a physics program (Davis, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Merced, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Irvine, Riverside, San Diego) and the three UC managed laboratories (Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos). It will be directed by Prof. Bernard Sadoulet (UCB). UC Berkeley will be the host campus.