Giant detectors in solution-mined salt caverns

by Prof. Ben Monreal (UC Santa Barbara)

Thursday 25 Feb 2016, 15:00 → 16:00 US/Eastern

Universe

Many of particle physics' most interesting observables (neutrinos, dark matter, proton decay) require detectors installed underground. In many cases, the constraints associated with mines---limited roof spans, limited sites, safety, and excavation costs--- are beginning to limit the scope of our experiments. The energy and chemical industries have 100 years of experience with a different type of underground space: solution-mined salt caverns. These are obtained by drilling into large salt formations and dissolving the salt with water. The caverns obtained can be enormous, deep, stable and above all inexpensive---but of course they have their own access and pressure constraints. In this talk, I will argue that a wide range of desirable detector technologies, including giant gas TPCs, might be deployed with these caverns. In particular, I will talk about an (untested) TPC gas mixture I devised with these caverns in mind, but which may prove useful in conventional labs too.

Slides bnl_salt.pdf