The UK Dark Matter Collaboration (UKDMC) (1987–2007)
was an experiment to search for Weakly interacting
massive particles (WIMPs).
The consortium consisted of astrophysicists
and particle physicists from the United Kingdom,
who conducted 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.
Detectors were set up 1,100 m (3,600 ft) underground
in a halite seam at the Boulby Mine in North
Yorkshire.
== Background ==
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 metres below the surface of
Yorkshire's Boulby mine.
== History ==
UKDMC began in 1987, 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 was provided by
the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research
Council (PPARC), as well as Cleveland Potash
Ltd. which operates the mine where the experiments
were conducted.
The underground laboratory was officially
opened on 18 April 2003, and the experiment
ran until 2007 when collaborating institutions
and scientists moved on to the related projects
ZEPLIN-III and DRIFT-II.
== Experiments ==
UKDMC operated multiple dark matter detectors
and developed techniques for WIMP searches
in crystals and xenon.
In 1996 they published limits that were obtained
using room temperature crystals.
NAIAD was an array of NaI(Tl) crystals that
ran 2001-2003, collecting 44.9 kg×years of
exposure, setting spin-independent and spin-dependent
limits on WIMPs.
Then the ZEPLIN series of searches were done
