Imperial College High Energy Physics Consolidated Grant (The study of elementary particles and their interactions): Capital Equipment

该提案支持重建和加强粒子物理先进辐射探测器的关键研究基础设施，特别是在直接暗物质搜索和中微子探测领域。多年来，伦敦帝国理工学院的高能物理小组在这一领域开发了新技术，这项开创性的工作推动了科学的进步。例如，引导寻找暗物质的液态氙探测器部分是在这里开发的，我们的研究人员开发的新型闪烁体探测器已被应用于检测核反应堆中微子的创新实验。这些创新还有助于将英国研究人员置于大型国际合作的核心，在那里他们的技术专长是一种可识别的资产。进行这种研发所需的研究基础设施现在需要紧急投资，因为它已经使用了几十年；这将使英国的研究机构能够继续为这些领域的下一代粒子物理实验做出主要贡献。这次投标将支持我们的液态氙研究实验室的全面翻新，这是迫切需要的——无论是在基本的实验室基础设施方面，这将由学院资助，以及重建液态氙设施所需的专业设备，这是由STFC支持的。此外，我们还寻求通过为我们的闪烁体开发实验室购买光谱仪来提高我们表征新型闪烁体材料的能力，因为我们目前无法获得这种类型的仪器。

This proposal supports the redevelopment and enhancement of key research infrastructure in advanced radiation detectors for particle physics, specifically in the areas of direct dark matter searches and neutrino detection.The High Energy Physics group at Imperial College London has developed novel technologies in this area over the years, and this pioneering work has pushed forward scientific advancements. For example, the liquid xenon detectors that lead the search for dark matter were in part developed here, and new scintillator detectors developed by our researchers have been applied to innovative experiments to detect nuclear reactor neutrinos. These innovations also help place UK researchers at the core of large international collaborations, where their technical expertise is a recognisable asset.The research infrastructure needed to conduct this R&D is in need of urgent investment as it is now decades old; this will allow UK institutes to continue to make leading contributions to the next generation of particle physics experiments in these areas. This bid will support the complete refurbishment of our Liquid Xenon Research Laboratory, which is needed urgently - both in terms of basic laboratory infrastructure, which will be funded by the College, and the specialist equipment needed to re-establish the liquid xenon facility, which is supported by STFC. In addition, we also seek to improve our capability to characterise novel scintillator materials with the acquisition of a spectrometer for our Scintillator Development laboratory, as this type of instrument is not available to us at the moment.