LZ Detector – World’s Most Sensitive Dark Matter Detector Delivers 1st Results

On 7th July 2022, LUX-ZEPLIN(LZ) Detector, the world’s most sensitive dark matter detector, presented the first science results from the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota, United States (US).

LUX-ZEPLIN(LZ) 

LUX-ZEPLIN is a next-generation dark matter experiment, selected by the US Department of Energy (DOE) as one of the three °G2′ (for Generation 2) dark matter experiments. It is located at the 4850’ level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility.

• The name LZ is derived from the merger of 2 previous dark matter detection experiments -LUX (Large Underground Xenon) and ZEPLIN (ZonEd Proportional scintillation in Liquid Noble gases).

• The LZ collaboration consists of about 250 scientists in 35 institutions in the United States of America(USA), The United Kingdom(UK), Portugal, and Korea. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) (Berkeley Lab) the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science lab managed by University of California., is the lead institution for the LZ project.

‘The LZ experiment utilizes 7 tonnes of active liquid xenon to search for xenon nuclei that recoil in response to collisions caused by an impinging flux of dark matter particles known as WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles).Dark matter makes up around 85% of the matter in the known universe, but because it doesn’t interact with light it is practically invisible.