Dark Matter and BSM Physics with the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment and R&D for a future rare-event observatory

The race is on to make the first direct detection of the Dark Matter (DM) that accounts for 85% of the mass of the Universe. The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment is the flagship US/UK DM project that will be the largest and most advanced direct detection instrument ever built. After many years of design and construction the LZ detector is about to start data taking in its new home, a mile underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), South Dakota, USA. In this project, we will analyse data from the forthcoming LZ science runs to explore significant new parameter space towards discovery of WIMP dark matter and galactic signatures of physics beyond the standard model (BSM). To do this a multimodal background model will be developed alongside the necessary signal models and extensions to the LZ statistical tools needed to compare with data. The project will include extended trips to SURF to run and calibrate the LZ detector. The project will also include a significant component of R&D work developing radio-assay techniques and performing design studies towards the next Generation-3 direction detection experiment, and in the application of quantum technologies as a tool for direct detection of dark matter.