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Canfranc Underground Laboratory

Coordinates: 42°44′58″N 0°30′59″W / 42.749374°N 0.516330°W / 42.749374; -0.516330
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Canfranc Underground Laboratory - LSC
Established2006[1]
Research typeLow-background physics
LocationCanfranc, Aragón (Spain)
Operating agency
University of Zaragoza
Websitewww.lsc-canfranc.es
Entrance of the offices
Main lab interior, between Somport road tunnel and the old Canfranc railway tunnel

The Canfranc Underground Laboratory (Spanish: Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc or LSC) is an underground scientific facility located in the former railway tunnel of Somport under Monte Tobazo (Pyrenees) in Canfranc. The laboratory, 780 m deep and protected from cosmic radiation,[2] is mainly devoted to study rarely occurring natural phenomena such as the interactions of neutrinos of cosmic origin or dark matter with atomic nuclei.[3][1][4]

Access to the tunnel containing the laboratory is at the Estación Internacional de Canfranc, a former international railway station in the village of Canfranc.[5][4][6]

Experiments

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As of 2023, the following experiments are ongoing in Canfranc:[7]

  • ANAIS, WIMP dark matter search experiment
  • DArT, experiment to measure the radioactive activation of argon
  • TREX-DM, WIMP dark matter search experiment
  • NEXT, neutrinoless double beta decay experiment
  • CROSS, Cryogenic Rare-event Observatory with Surface Sensitivity, searching for neutrinoless double beta decay
  • SuperKGd (also known as SUPERK-GD or under similar names), experiment for mapping of background noise signal for the Super-Kamiokande neutrino telescope in Japan. There is a plan to operate the Super-Kamiokande detector with Gadolinium salt dissolved into the water-mass of the detector. This operation would introduce unknown backgrounds in the neutrino-detection process of Super-Kamiokande, and SuperK-Gd is mapping those backgrounds.
  • BabyIAXO, preparing the ground for the full infrastructure of the IAXO (International Axion Observatory) which is a new generation axion helioscope and its main goal is to detect axions (or other similar particles) potentially emitted by the Sun’s core in large quantities
  • GOLLUM, underground biology experiment

As of 2023, the following experiments were described as proposals:[8]

  • Multicellular structure formation in response to low level background radiation, a biology experiment
  • Microorganisms with enhanced DNA damage repair abilities, a biology experiment
  • Interaction between host and pathogens under low-radiation background, a biology experiment
  • THE MODERN-E PROJECT, a study of wireless transmission of geotechnical data through clay rocks. Through its works, it aims to achieve a wireless monitoring system capable of operating with the measurement instrumentation commonly used for monitoring the main geotechnical parameters that are relevant for the operation of the future nuclear waste repository
  • CADEX, the Canfranc Axion Detection Experiment
  • Luria-Delbrück 2.0, studying cosmic radiation to evaluate its possible role in the mutation rate of bacteria
  • Bacteria in heavy water, a biology experiment
  • NEXT-HD, the fourth phase of the NEXT program
  • NaI-CGF, this proposal aims to build and commission an underground facility to grow ultra-high radiopurity NaI(Tl) scintillators
  • HENSA, High Efficiency Neutron-Spectrometry Array
  • ARQ-Qubits, aims at developing a new technology to mitigate the effects of radiation on qubits
  • DAMIC, Dark Matter in CCDs, a dark matter detection experiment
  • LU, Low-level γ spectroscopy with High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors, a radiopurity experimemt
  • CUNA, an underground nuclear astrophysics facility

As of 2023, the following experiments have completed their activities in Canfranc:[9]

  • ArDM, WIMP dark matter search experiment
  • ETSEC, preliminary study for the Einstein Telescope project
  • BiPo, radio-purity of materials experiment
  • ROSEBUD, dark matter experiment
  • LAGUNA, neutrino observatory study (just a study, no real experiment hardware built and no measurements of any sort took place)
  • GOLLUM, underground biology experiment

References

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  1. ^ a b "Canfranc Underground Laboratory is ready to go". 212.71.251.65/aspera. Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Cosmic-ray muon flux at Canfranc Underground Laboratory". Eur. Phys. J. C 79 (8) 721 (2019). doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7239-9.
  3. ^ "The Canfranc Underground Laboratory" (PDF). lsm.in2p3.fr. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  4. ^ a b Iliana Mier (July 15, 2019). "The secret lab where Nazis hid gold". BBC Reel. BBC Travel. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  5. ^ Obscura, Atlas. "The Abandoned Nazi Train Station Turned Underground Astroparticle Laboratory". slate.com. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  6. ^ Povinec, Pavel (28 July 2011). Analysis of Environmental Radionuclides. ISBN 9780080553375. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  7. ^ "Current Experiments Canfranc Underground Laboratory". LSC Canfranc.
  8. ^ "Proposals - LSC Canfranc". LSC Canfranc.
  9. ^ "Past Experiments - LSC Canfranc". LSC Canfranc.
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42°44′58″N 0°30′59″W / 42.749374°N 0.516330°W / 42.749374; -0.516330

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