UK pledges £65million to the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment

The UK is investing £65million in a US-based global science project involving UCL scientists that could change our understanding of the universe. UK Universities and Science Minister Jo Johnson signed the agreement yesterday with the US Energy Department to invest the sum in the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), securing the UK's position as the international research partner of choice. DUNE will study the properties of mysterious particles called neutrinos, which could help explain more about how the universe works and why matter exists at all. In particular, it will look for is the differences in behaviour between neutrinos and their antimatter counterparts, antineutrinos. DUNE will also watch for neutrinos produced when a star explodes, which could reveal the formation of neutron stars and black holes, and will investigate whether protons live forever or eventually decay, bringing us closer to fulfilling Einstein's dream of a grand unified theory. The UCL High Energy Physics Group has been involved with US-based long-baseline neutrino experiments for almost 20 years and with DUNE since its inception. They contribute valuable expertise in a wide variety of areas including computer simulations of the neutrino beam to the design and construction of technology for a DUNE prototype detector which is being tested at CERN.