Speaker
Description
SABRE is an international collaboration that will operate similar particle detectors
in the Northern (SABRE North) and Southern Hemispheres (SABRE
South). This innovative approach aims to distinguish potential dark matter
signals from seasonal backgrounds: a pioneering strategy only feasible with a
Southern Hemisphere experiment. SABRE South is located at the Stawell Underground
Physics Laboratory (SUPL), in regional Victoria, Australia.
SUPL is a newly constructed facility situated 1024 metres underground (∼2900
metres water equivalent) within the Stawell Gold Mine. Its construction was
completed in 2023.
SABRE South employs ultra-high purity NaI(Tl) crystals immersed in a linear
alkyl benzene (LAB)-based liquid scintillator veto, surrounded by passive steel
and polyethylene shielding, and topped with a plastic scintillator muon veto.
Significant progress has been made in the procurement, testing, and preparation
of equipment for the installation of SABRE South. The assembly of the
experiment at SUPL will take place throughout 2025. The SABRE South muon
detector and data acquisition systems are already operational and actively collecting
data at SUPL, and full commissioning of SABRE South is planned for
the first quarter of 2026.
This presentation will provide an update on the overall progress of the SABRE
South construction, its anticipated performance, and its potential physics reach.
