Overviews

Overview of the Arapaho Project

The Arapaho Project is a private, nonprofit Corporation formed in 2004 to bring high energy physics projects to the Henderson Mine in Clear Creek County, Colorado. The Henderson mine is located 20 minutes west of Empire, Colorado, just west of Berthoud Pass. A subsidiary of Phelps Dodge Corporation, the Henderson began production in the late 1970's and is the world's largest underground molybdenum mine. Support from the Henderson's management and the existing modern infrastructure make the mine the most economical site for a national underground physics laboratory. Three major universities along Colorado's front range, University of Colorado, Colorado School of Mines and Colorado State University provide world class academic support for high energy research, and unsurpassed underground mining and engineering expertise. National and international access to the site is assured by Interstate 70 and the proximity of Denver International Airport. The mine's central location in the U.S. also makes it ideal for superbeam experiments from Brookhaven National Laboratory or Fermilab. In addition, the mine property is located totally on privately owned land and permits for additional excavation are already in place.

CAUSE (Colorado Alliance for Underground Science and Engineering)

In late 2003 The Arapaho Project fostered the formation of CAUSE, an organization consisting of The Arapaho Project, the Henderson Mine, and three major Colorado universities; CU - University of Colorado in Boulder, CSU - Colorado State University in Fort Collins, and CSM - School of Mines in Golden. This vital physics focused group, in direct dialog with the scientific community, is working to bring High Energy Particle physics to Colorado.

Physics The Arapaho Project is encouraging for Colorado

As further described elsewhere in this web site, The Arapaho Project is encouraging High Energy Particle physics research facilities to be constructed in Colorado. While these interrelating experiment and research projects vary in their focus, they gain financial and academic advantages by close proximity to one another. The following section lists some of these in various stages of development.

UNO project description

In conjunction with other high energy physics experiments, the UNO project is one of the major projects that The Arapaho Project and CAUSE are working to bring to Colorado. Neutrinos (further explained above) are high energy particles that occur naturally from many different sources in the universe. Neutrinos are among the smallest particles known to exist. With very strange properties, many of which are unknown, neutrinos may hold the keys to understanding the biggest of mankind's questions about the universe. UNO's architect and chief physicist is Professor Chang Kee Jung of New York State University at Stony Brook. Professor Chang Kee has designed an advanced detector that captures neutrino indications via an underground tank.(Cherenkov detector) Neutrinos traveling through the purified water in the tank give off light, which when picked up by thousands of photo multiplier tubes lining the tank, are analyzed by a bank of computers utilizing highly specialized software. By constructing the tank at a precise size and configuration, and setting it deep in the earth, the UNO project has the ability to record and monitor neutrinos far beyond all other existing detectors. Great discoveries are ahead in the years to come and UNO may be the project that uncovers some of the hidden secrets of our universe.

UNO and similar projects

Other neutrino detectors have been built and are in operation in many parts of the world. Each one has contributed to the knowledge base and been, in part, the basis for the next level of experimentation. The UNO project will forward that knowledge base to some very enlightening conclusions.

HUSEP

Established for the multi-entity coordinated for the construction of an underground physics lab at the Henderson Mine.

Outreach related educational outreach programs

The Arapaho Project and its associates encourage the furthering of knowledge though various activities. Students backed by various schools participate in experiments that assist the physicists in their experiments.