etection methods, such as the LUX and XENON experiments, which have not seen any dark matter signals and have greater sensitivity. It has proved very difficult to construct theories of dark matter that allow DAMA-LIBRA to be consistent with these other experimental searches.
Dark matter for all seasons
Our spiral galaxy is thought to be rotating inside a large, diffuse sea of static dark matter. As the galaxy rotates through the dark matter, the Sun experiences a constant “wind” of dark matter.
Because Earth’s speed with respect to the sea of dark matter around us changes as Earth rotates around the Sun, we expect to see a variation in the dark matter signal over the course of a year. This variation is called an annual modulation.
This is what DAMA-LIBRA reported. By having a new and improved experiment, called SABRE, with detectors in both hemispheres, we can rule out any possible seasonal effect that might be giving the appearance of an annual modulation.
We think the Stawell Gold Mine is the perfect location to do that experiment. It is a “decline mine”, meaning there’s a sloped path leading underground that loops back on itself. It’s a 30-minute drive down 15km of winding underground tunnels before you reach the SUPL lab site.
The primary laboratory space will be housed in a 10-metre-wide, 35-metre-long void that will be freshly gouged into the rock. The walls of the void will be reinforced with dozens of long bolts penetrating deep into the surrounding rock, and then the walls will have a thick layer of shotcrete sprayed onto them for further stability.
The excavation and reinforcement will happen in early 2017 and the lab will be constructed in mid-2017. The southern component of the SABRE experiment will go into the lab and begin operation in late 2017.
The SUPL lab is expected to house several other experiments in the coming years, ranging from nuclear physics to studies of biological systems in extreme and low-radiation environments.
We are hopeful that this experiment will finally provide clear evidence for the elusive dark matter.