These results are really exciting because we’ve opened a new window into the universe as the leading dark matter experiment for WIMP dark matter at these low masses. Every time we open a new dataset, we could see dark matter and observing this known neutrino signal means that we can have confidence that if a dark matter signal is there that we’re ready to discover it.”
Dr Jim Dobson
09 December 2025
King's physicists push limits of dark matter detection in global first
New results from the global LUX-ZEPLIN project place the strongest constraints yet on low mass dark matter candidates.
New results from one of the world’s largest dark matter detectors has found a known milestone signal that behaves like dark matter at never before explored energy depths, suggesting it may just be matter of time before the mysterious form of matter is found.
Exploring whether weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPs, could have masses between five and ten GeV/c2 (gigaelectronvolts/c2) and identifying a dark matter-like neutrino signal in two world firsts, physicists from King’s Experimental Particle and Astroparticle Physics Group helped break new ground on the search for what could make up 85% of the known universe.
WIMPs are a key contender for dark matter and are hypothesized to be particles which began their life in the early universe. If real, they would weigh between the mass of one proton, a subatomic particle present in every atom, and a few thousand protons.
Using a 10-tonne tank of liquid xenon a mile underneath the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota, Drs Jim Dobson, Albert Baker, PhD candidates Catherine Lawes, Jed Young and Jasmine Ghamsari, and more than 250 scientists of the LUX-ZEPLIN project capture potential WIMP activity by detecting how possible dark matter particles knock into xenon atoms.
Previously, the experiment had put artificial limits on the energy signatures of the phenomenon it would analyse, looking only at WIMP interactions from nine GeV/c2 and above. By taking this limit to WIMP interactions between three and nine GeV/c2, the team are now analysing a wholly unexplored space of WIMP dark matter.
It is within these low masses that the consortium found boron-8 neutrino readings, very small, ultra-fast particles emanating from the sun’s core. These signals are known to interact with xenon atoms in a similar way that dark matter should, suggesting that LUX-ZEPLIN should also be able to detect it as well.
King’s have played a key role in the data analysis of these lower-level signatures, with PhD student Catherine Lawes developing a new algorithm to remove background disturbance from potential WIMP readings.
It's been amazing getting to participate in the analysis and seeing the impact the hotspot cut had on the detector data quality. Getting to then come on site to help keep the detector running a mile underground as well has made it into a really rounded experience."
Catherine Lawes, PhD Student
Dr Dobson, who leads the team at King’s and manages one of the experiment’s two data centres that processed the data for the results said, “These results are really exciting because we’ve opened a new window into the universe as the leading dark matter experiment for WIMP dark matter at these low masses. Every time we open a new dataset, we could see dark matter and observing this known neutrino signal means that we can have confidence that if a dark matter signal is there that we’re ready to discover it.”
Commenting on what the next tranche of data from the xenon detector might bring, Dr Baker, who leads the experiment’s data reconstruction group responsible for getting signals from the detector ready for analysis on the data reconstruction of the project to make the raw observations ready for analysis, had this to say.
“As we continue towards our goal of collecting 1000 days of science data, we will continue to explore exciting new parameter spaces using a detector already demonstrating sensitivity to rare events of astrophysical origin. This gives us confidence that if dark matter is made of WIMPs we will see them.”
Commenting on how her algorithm to remove background transient hotspot interruption impacted the experiment, Lawes, who is currently on-site at the detector as part of a 6-month long-term attachment, said “It's been amazing getting to participate in the analysis and seeing the impact the hotspot cut had on the detector data quality. Getting to then come on site to help keep the detector running a mile underground as well has made it into a really rounded experience."
LUX-ZEPLIN is an international project made up of 250 scientists, engineers and support staff and funded by the US, the UK through the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and other countries such as Portugal, South Korea, Australia and Switzerland.
Original press release here.
