LEAD — When scientists deploy the LUX detector in the Sanford Underground Lab the dark matter experiment will become one of the deepest in the world — immediately competing with the largest dark matter search in the world at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.

The Large Hadron Collider, which, along with CERN laboratory recently enjoyed a plethora of publicity with the success of the Tom Hanks blockbuster “Angels and Demons,” houses the two largest multi-faceted particle physics experiments in the world, with searches including dark matter. Following the movie production — which scientists say contains gross inaccurate depictions of the science that occurs at CERN — scientists jumped on the film’s momentum and notoriety, using it to launch a worldwide education campaign about the experiments that occur. One of the facilities at CERN, the Large Hadron Collider, houses the two largest dark matter searches in the world — ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS) and the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS). Those experiments, housed in a massive, shallow underground tube that is a 17-mile circumference ring, accelerate protons at ultra-high speeds to create dark matter particles. The experiments will search for the absence of energy after the particles collide, using that as evidence of dark matter rather than directly detecting dark matter particles.

The information will represent a cross-section of physics and earth science experiments that will be included with the proposal to build a deep underground science and engineering laboratory. The proposal is expected to be submitted to the National Science Foundation at the end of the year, and Lesko said the information he receives this month will have an impact on the facility design.

While members of the DUSEL team are anxiously awaiting the science plans they are also preparing for a regular National Science Foundation review of the project, which is scheduled for mid-February in Berkeley, Calif. The review is one of at least two that will be held this year before the team submits its final plans for the proposed $550 million federally funded underground laboratory. Reviewers will include nine scientists from throughout the country that the NSF specially selects.

“The primary focus is the facility and how the facility is integrating and handling the experiments,” Lesko said.

The DUSEL proposal is expected to be submitted to the National Science Foundation at the end of this year. Afterward, the National Science Board will review the proposal to determine whether it will be submitted to Congress for funding approval. If it is approved, construction for the project could start as early as 2013. If approved, the deep underground science and engineering laboratory at Homestake will be built with campuses down to the 7,400-foot level, which will make it the deepest underground lab in the world.