SABRE is an international collaboration that will operate similar particle detectors in the Northern (SABRE North) and Southern Hemispheres (SABRE South), with the aim of testing the anomalous DAMA/LIBRA signal — an annually modulating event rate claimed to be consistent with dark matter. This innovative approach distinguishes possible dark matter signals from seasonal backgrounds, a strategy only possible with a southern hemisphere experiment. SABRE South is located at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (SUPL), in regional Victoria, Australia. SUPL is a newly built facility located 1024 m underground (∼2900 m water equivalent) within the Stawell Gold Mine and its construction was completed in 2023. The SABRE South detector employs ultra-high purity NaI(Tl) crystals immersed in a Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) based liquid scintillator veto, alongside a plastic scintillator muon veto placed on top of the detector shielding. In this seminar I will introduce and describe the SABRE South detector, its anticipated performance, and potential physics reach. I will also discuss the liquid scintillator veto and the work undertaken to exploit it to its fullest extent. Finally, I will provide some recent updates on the progress of the experiment.
Paolo Beltrame