Chamkaur Ghag elected as spokesperson for the LZ dark matter detection experiment

Prof. Chamkaur Ghag is an astroparticle physicist specialising in Dark Matter research. He graduated from Queen Mary University of London with an MSci in Physics in 2003. He then obtained a PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 2007. Prior to joining UCL, Chamkaur worked at University of Edinburgh within the ZEPLIN programme at Boulby Mine, and at UCLA working on the XENON programme at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. He joined the High Energy Physics group at UCL in 2012 to initiate direct Dark Matter research, first with the LUX experiment and subsequently LUX-ZEPLIN, located at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. Chamkaur is one of the founding members of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment that brings together the LUX and ZEPLIN programmes to deliver the most ambitious direct Dark Matter experiment yet.

Congratulations on your election! Can you tell uswhat science the LZ dark matter detection experiment is enabling?                                                   

Thank you! LZ is the culmination of a few decades of R&D and a series of experiments to create an incredibly quiet, multi-tonne radio-pure detector. At the heart of the detector is 7 tonnes of xenon that is tuned to light up should Dark Matter particles in our galaxy interact there. Dark Matter makes up 85% of the matter in our Universe but its nature has remained mysterious and elusive. LZ could deliver the world’s very first detection.

What is the nature of your new spokesperson role? What does it entail?

It is a huge honour to be chosen from amongst the international collaboration for this role and to help keep the project moving towards excellent science and perhaps even first discovery of Dark Matter or other new physics. The role is to keep an eye on the various moving parts of the project, from analyses to operations, calibrations to well-being, and to be there for my collaborators, serving and representing them, as we collectively keep everything moving in the right direction.

What brought you to Physics?

Physics represented an opportunity to dive into the unknown, to push on the boundaries of our knowledge as a species and see if we could understand just what the universe is doing and to understand our place as part of it. It was always either going to be neuroscience or physics for me.

What has been the most exciting moment in your researcher’s life to date? 

That’s an easy one – right now. We have worked for 10 years to get LZ to this point. Earlier this year a decade of R&D and construction culminated with our first science results from a short engineering run that demonstrated we had successfully built the most sensitive experiment in the search for galactic Dark Matter. Now we enter completely unexplored space in search of first discovery.

You worked on several major experiments. What has been your favourite collaborative experience and why?

I really enjoy getting together with collaborators for in-person meetings. Possibly my favourite one was a collaboration meeting hosted by colleagues in Moscow, where we were on a boat for the evening going up and down the Moskva river. We had recently finished analysis from the ZEPLIN-III experiment and spent time discussing the publication we were to preparing to submit. But after that it was all about the great food and a seemingly endless supply of even better drinks…the following morning was not a pretty sight.

Tell us more about the research teams you manage and work with, at UCL and beyond.

At UCL I work with an incredible team of post-doctoral researchers and PhD students as part of our Dark Matter team. I’m fortunate to have incredibly smart but, just as importantly, kind and selfless colleagues who care about each other as people, not just for the work they do. That helps us all get on with a really diverse range of innovative research, whilst always looking to improve wellbeing; happier people do better physics after all! Beyond UCL I’m lucky to have some colleagues in the UK I have worked with for 20 years now who are essentially family. In LZ, I’m regularly forming new friendships or deepening old ones, so that family keeps growing. The range expertise across the LZ collaboration is simply mind-blowing – these are some of the most skilful people I have ever met.

You are a member of UCL's Climate Change Working Group. You are also a co-founder of Rhizome. Can you tell us more about this, and why this is important to you?

To do science, or anything at all, we need a healthy planet. For a very long time humanity seems to have lived under the illusion that we can extract, pollute and generally disregard the health of the very ecosystems our lives depend upon and are intricately connected to. Whilst many across the world have felt the brunt of this more than others for centuries, climate change will impact every part of our home planet. I don’t think much of the general population understands what is coming with climate change, and humanity is ill-prepared. I want to do all I can to help pave the way for sensible solutions for energy, water and food systems, and restoration of critical ecosystems. That began with working across many teams at UCL to drive necessary change within the institution, such as the Climate Change Working Group and spilled out into piloting tools such as Rhizome – a platform that would allow anyone and everyone to bring their unique skills to interdisciplinary projects centred around the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

What one piece of advice would you give to aspiring physicists?

Spend time cultivating your own wellbeing.

Links: Prof Chamkaur Ghag | UCL Department of Physics and Astronomy - UCL – University College London

Collaborations: LZ Dark Matter Experiment | LZUK