SNOLAB is a deep underground research facility, hosted 2km beneath the surface of the Earth in a working mine at Creighton, near Sudbury, Ontario. Initially the site of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, which unambiguously demonstrated flavour-change in neutrinos created in the fusion processes of the Sun, SNOLAB now hosts a multi-disciplinary programme. Why do we need to go to such great depths to probe the Universe? Deep underground research facilities create ultra-quiet radiation environments through reduced cosmic ray induced backgrounds, and local shielding against ambient natural radioactivity. Such environments are required to address several of the major questions in contemporary astro-particle and sub-atomic physics, such as the search for the Galactic dark matter, and studies of neutrino properties. In addition the capabilities and techniques developed at SNOLAB are finding application in additional research streams such as genetics, nuclear treaty verification and deep subsurface life studies. This talk will provide an overview of the science programme at SNOLAB, will review detector systems used for these studies, and outline future plans for the facility.
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2020-01-16T14:00:002020-01-16T15:00:00The SNOLAB Science Programme: cutting-edge science from a deep hole in the groundEvent Information:
SNOLAB is a deep underground research facility, hosted 2km beneath the surface of the Earth in a working mine at Creighton, near Sudbury, Ontario. Initially the site of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, which unambiguously demonstrated flavour-change in neutrinos created in the fusion processes of the Sun, SNOLAB now hosts a multi-disciplinary programme. Why do we need to go to such great depths to probe the Universe? Deep underground research facilities create ultra-quiet radiation environments through reduced cosmic ray induced backgrounds, and local shielding against ambient natural radioactivity. Such environments are required to address several of the major questions in contemporary astro-particle and sub-atomic physics, such as the search for the Galactic dark matter, and studies of neutrino properties. In addition the capabilities and techniques developed at SNOLAB are finding application in additional research streams such as genetics, nuclear treaty verification and deep subsurface life studies. This talk will provide an overview of the science programme at SNOLAB, will review detector systems used for these studies, and outline future plans for the facility.Event Location:
TRIUMF Auditorium