DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment)
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| DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment) | |
|---|---|
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| Name | DUNE |
| Location | Sanford Underground Research Facility |
| Field | Particle physics |
| Start | 2015 |
DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment) is a long-baseline neutrino experiment designed to study neutrino oscillations, proton decay, and neutrinos from astrophysical sources. It uses a high-intensity neutrino beam produced at a multi-purpose accelerator complex and a far detector installed deep underground in a former gold mine to achieve unprecedented sensitivity. The project is an international collaboration involving national laboratories, universities, and funding agencies across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Overview
DUNE is sited with a neutrino beam originating at Fermilab and a far detector located at the Sanford Underground Research Facility near Lead, South Dakota; the experiment is coordinated by the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment collaboration. The initiative traces technical and scientific lineage to predecessor projects such as Super-Kamiokande, SNO, MINOS, NOvA, and design studies from LBNE and LAGUNA. Major institutional partners include Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, CERN, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and numerous universities in the United States Department of Energy system and international agencies such as the European Research Council and national research councils.
Scientific Goals
DUNE aims to determine the neutrino mass ordering, measure the CP-violating phase in the lepton sector, search for proton decay modes predicted by grand unified theories like SU(5) and SO(10), and detect neutrinos from core-collapse supernovae as well as other astrophysical phenomena catalogued by observatories like IceCube and Super-Kamiokande. Precision measurements will test extensions of the Standard Model and probe questions related to baryogenesis and leptogenesis discussed in literature involving figures such as Murray Gell-Mann and Steven Weinberg. The experiment will constrain models including sterile neutrinos motivated by anomalies seen in experiments like LSND and MiniBooNE, and it will provide inputs relevant to analyses by collaborations such as T2K and NOvA.
Experimental Design
The experimental concept couples a high-power neutrino beamline at Fermilab with massive liquid argon time projection chamber detectors installed at the Sanford Underground Research Facility roughly 1,300 kilometers away; this baseline leverages matter effects first discussed in work by Lincoln Wolfenstein and Mikheyev–Smirnov–Wolfenstein. The beamline design builds on accelerator developments at Main Injector and draws technical expertise from projects like Spallation Neutron Source and facilities such as CERN SPS for target and horn systems. Data acquisition, event reconstruction, and analysis use software frameworks influenced by efforts from ROOT (data analysis framework), Geant4, and computing models developed for Large Hadron Collider experiments including ATLAS and CMS.
Detector Components
The far detector employs modular liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) modules with dual-phase and single-phase readout options; technologies under development reference detector R&D performed at CERN Neutrino Platform and proto-detectors like ProtoDUNE. Cryogenics and purification systems rely on industrial-scale designs and collaborations with national labs such as Fermilab and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Near detector systems situated near the beam source include magnetic spectrometers, fine-grained trackers, and high-pressure gaseous argon detectors; detector subgroups include institutions such as University of Chicago, Columbia University, University of Oxford, and University of Tokyo. Calibration, photon detection, and electronics draw on expertise from groups associated with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and TRIUMF.
Beam and Facility
The neutrino beam originates at Fermilab using upgrades to the Proton Improvement Plan and Main Injector to reach multi-megawatt proton power; targetry and focusing horns are engineered with input from accelerator projects at CERN and KEK. The beamline and near site infrastructure are managed under the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility construction project with oversight by the U.S. Department of Energy and partnerships including Canada and Switzerland. Civil construction for the far site uses underground mining and excavation expertise connected to operations at the Sanford Underground Research Facility and historic mining activities in Lead, South Dakota.
Collaboration and Organization
The DUNE collaboration comprises hundreds of institutions and thousands of scientists, engineers, and students affiliated with organizations such as Fermilab, CERN, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and major universities including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Manchester, University of Oxford, and University of Tokyo. Governance structures include executive boards, technical coordination, and working groups modeled after collaborations like ATLAS and CMS; funding involves agencies such as the U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, European Research Council, and national research councils from participating countries.
Timeline and Status
DUNE evolved from proposals and design reports in the 2010s and formal collaboration formation in the mid-2010s, with key milestones including prototyping at CERN (ProtoDUNE) and approval of the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility construction. Installation of early detector modules, progressive beam-power upgrades at Fermilab, and commissioning at the Sanford Underground Research Facility are staged through the 2020s and into the 2030s, coordinated with construction programs at national laboratories and informed by results from contemporaneous experiments such as T2K, NOvA, and IceCube. Ongoing R&D, prototype tests, and international negotiations continue to shape the final schedule and scope.
Category:Neutrino experiments