Science Board has formed a dedicated Sub-Group (Prof Val Gibson, Prof Andrew Jaffe, Dr Christian Spiering and Prof Dan Tovey (Chair) to develop a coordinated strategy for UK participation in direct dark matter searches that could position the UK for leadership in this area. The Sub-Group will report to Science Board in July 2012.

As part of this exercise the Sub-Group wishes to consult the community on its views of the field. The background and consultation questions as identified by the Sub-Group are given below.

If you require any further information, please contact Jenny Hiscock.

Currently UK physicists participate in the following direct dark matter search experiments:

• Darkside (liquid Argon)
• DEAP/CLEAN (liquid Argon)
• DRIFT (gaseous tracking)
• EDELWEISS/EURECA (cryogenic)
• LUX350/LUX-ZEPLIN (liquid Xenon)

Currently STFC does not provide ear-marked financial support for these experiments.

Participation in this field by some other countries includes:

• Germany - XENON, EDELWEISS, CRESST leading to EURECA
• Italy - DAMA-LIBRA, WARP/Darkside, XENON, CRESST
• France - EDELWEISS leading to EURECA, MIMAC, XENON
• US - LUX350/LUX-ZEPLIN, WARP/Darkside, DRIFT, XENON, CDMS, COUPP, DEAP/CLEAN
• Canada - CDMS, PICASSO, DEAP/CLEAN
• Japan - XMASS
• China - XENON, PandaX

Present experiments are just entering the region of parameter space favoured by many theoretical models and consequently have some discovery potential. These experiments serve also as a step towards a new generation of experiments which are now under preparation, which will increase cross-section sensitivity by one to two orders of magnitude and cover a substantial part of this favoured parameter space.

1. Name / institution (optional)
2. How important is UK participation in direct dark matter search experiments in the context of the wider STFC particle physics, astronomy and nuclear physics programme?
3. How should funding in this area be targeted to achieve maximum scientific impact? For example, should it be focused on just one experiment or spread more broadly?
4. Should funding be focused on experiments currently taking data or due to take data in the next 3-5 years, or should funding also be provided for R&D on future experiments or technologies with the potential to become competitive?
5. How might the available level of funding affect the above strategy, for example in terms of priorities for support in a climate of limited funds.
6. Are there any particular further points you would like to raise?

Please email your response to the questions. All responses should be received by 7 June 2012.

Individual responses to the consultation will not be published, however you should be aware that an aggregated summary of responses (which does not attribute specific responses to individuals) may be published.