Deep Underground Laboratories are multidisciplinary research infrastructures with a rock overburden that goes from a few hundred meters to a few kilometers. Presently, there are 13 laboratories in operation on three Continents (North America, Europe, Asia, Australia) for a global excavation volume of order 10^6 m3. New laboratories are being constructed/proposed including a new one in South America.
The main reason to develop an underground infrastructure is related to operate in a less radioactive environment where in particular muons from cosmic rays are strongly suppressed.
This low background environment opens the possibility to search for very rare events such as low energy neutrino interactions, dark matter direct detection, and neutrinoless double beta decay. These are crucial studies to enhance our understanding of the Universe. In addition, these special environments in which these infrastructures are located provide opportunities to carry out many and varied studies on geology, geophysics, biology and planetary exploration of significant interest and impact in both pure and applied science.
A number of technological challenges over the last decades have been faced by scientists working in these infrastructures. As a consequence, state-of-the-art facilities are in operation in Underground Laboratories for radio-purity assay, ultra-low temperature detectors, quantum computing, radon suppression and mitigation, advanced machining, and next-generation gravitational wave detectors.
Therefore, this special issue would like to collect contributions aiming to:
1. review the present large research infrastructures around the world (including main research activities and strategy)
a. Boulby, LSM, LSBB, LSC, LNGS, CallioLab, Baksan for Europe
b. Kamioka, Kagra, JingPing, Y2L, Yemilab for Asia
c. SNOLAB, SURF for North America
d. SUPL and ANDES for Australia and South America
2. discuss some specific state-of-the-art facilities selected by the Guest Editors
3. discuss efforts for next generation detectors being planned for underground sites including gravitational wave detectors
Deep Underground Laboratories are multidisciplinary research infrastructures with a rock overburden that goes from a few hundred meters to a few kilometers. Presently, there are 13 laboratories in operation on three Continents (North America, Europe, Asia, Australia) for a global excavation volume of order 10^6 m3. New laboratories are being constructed/proposed including a new one in South America.
The main reason to develop an underground infrastructure is related to operate in a less radioactive environment where in particular muons from cosmic rays are strongly suppressed.
This low background environment opens the possibility to search for very rare events such as low energy neutrino interactions, dark matter direct detection, and neutrinoless double beta decay. These are crucial studies to enhance our understanding of the Universe. In addition, these special environments in which these infrastructures are located provide opportunities to carry out many and varied studies on geology, geophysics, biology and planetary exploration of significant interest and impact in both pure and applied science.
A number of technological challenges over the last decades have been faced by scientists working in these infrastructures. As a consequence, state-of-the-art facilities are in operation in Underground Laboratories for radio-purity assay, ultra-low temperature detectors, quantum computing, radon suppression and mitigation, advanced machining, and next-generation gravitational wave detectors.
Therefore, this special issue would like to collect contributions aiming to:
1. review the present large research infrastructures around the world (including main research activities and strategy)
a. Boulby, LSM, LSBB, LSC, LNGS, CallioLab, Baksan for Europe
b. Kamioka, Kagra, JingPing, Y2L, Yemilab for Asia
c. SNOLAB, SURF for North America
d. SUPL and ANDES for Australia and South America
2. discuss some specific state-of-the-art facilities selected by the Guest Editors
3. discuss efforts for next generation detectors being planned for underground sites including gravitational wave detectors
