UK Dark Matter Collaboration
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The UK Dark Matter Collaboration (UKDMC) is an experiment to search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). The consortium consists of astrophysicists and particle physicists, conducting experiments with the ultimate goal of detecting rare scattering events which would occur if galactic dark matter consists largely of a new heavy neutral particle.
WIMPs are considered prime candidates for dark matter, which accounts for approximately nine-tenths of the mass of certain galaxies, such as the Milky Way. WIMPs are predicted by several supersymmetric theories of particle physics. The particle detectors used for this experiment are placed 1100 meters below the surface of Yorkshire's Boulby mine.
UKDMC began in 1989, with principal participants from several notable institutions, including the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, the CCLRC's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and the University of Sheffield.
Funding for the programme is provided by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), as well as Cleveland Potash Ltd. which operates the mine where the experiments are conducted.
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