ZEPLIN-III SSR EXTENSION

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This proposal will enable the extension of the ZEPLIN-III dark matter search to March 2011 in order to exploit fully the second science run now under way at Boulby. The instrument has been upgraded with a new array of low-background photomultipliers and a new anti-coincidence veto system surrounding the target. In addition, the underground operation has been largely automated, bringing about a gain in data quality as well as a decrease of the resources required to run the experiment. ZEPLIN-III is collecting high quality WIMP-search data and is performing extremely well. This extension will allow ZEPLIN-III, one of a very small number of instruments taking data around the world in 2011, to push further into unexplored WIMP parameter space, at a time when both the LHC and indirect dark matter serches are reaching a comparable level of readiness for discovery of the mysterious dark matter.