Snowmass 2021 Underground Facilities & Infrastructure Frontier Report

Abstract

The decade since Snowmass 2013 has seen extraordinary progress of high energy physics research performed--or planned for--at underground facilities. Drs. T. Kajita and A.B. McDonald were awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of neutrino oscillation, which show that neutrinos have mass. The U.S. has embarked on the development of the world-class LBNF/DUNE science program to investigate neutrino properties. The Generation 2 dark matter program is advancing to full data collection in the coming 5 years, a Dark Matter New Initiatives program has begun, and the U.S. dark matter community is looking toward a Generation 3 program of large-scale dark matter direct detection searches. The Sanford Underground Research Facility has become a focal point for U.S. underground facilities and infrastructure investment. The status since the 2013 Snowmass process as well as the outcome from the 2014 P5 program of recommendations is reviewed. These are then evaluated based on the activities and discussions of the Snowmass 2021 process resulting in conclusions looking forward to the coming decade of high energy physics research performed in underground facilities.