Air Products to supply equipment for mile-deep research that may support Einstein's idea of a unified theory - 69News WFMZ-TV

Air Products to supply equipment for mile-deep research that may support Einstein's idea of a unified theory | Lehigh Valley Regional News | wfmz.com

U. MACUNGIE TWP., Pa. - Air Products has agreed to supply equipment to support DUNE.

This is not about Dune, the 1965 science-fiction novel by Frank Herbert. In this case, DUNE is the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, which will be conducted a mile below South Dakota's Black Hills.

Upper Macungie Township-based Air Products will supply equipment that liquefies nitrogen to support the research, which is being conducted by the operators of Fermilab, an Illinois laboratory named for physicist Enrico Fermi.

The Air Products equipment will keep liquid argon cold in five-story containers, known as cryostats. Argon crystals can detect neutrinos, a subatomic particle. The neutrinos will be beamed toward DUNE from an accelerator in Illinois.

Neutrinos are immensely small and are everywhere. Trillions of neutrinos pass through humans each second, according to the Air Products statement.

The research, according to an Air Products statement, has multiple goals: to gain understanding of the fundamental nature of matter and the origins of the universe; to look for neutrinos emerging from an exploding star, and to seek subatomic phenomena "that could help realize Einstein's dream of the unification of forces."

Albert Einstein, developer of the theory of relativity, spent his later years in pursuit of a "Unified Field Theory" that could explain all fundamental forces and particles.

Air Products did not disclose the financial terms of the agreement.

The liquid argon will be a mile below South Dakota at SURF: the Stanford Underground Research Facility. Air Products said 35 countries are participating in the project.

Taking liquefication equipment that far underground is a challenge, said Samir J. Serhan, Ph.D., Air Products' chief operating officer, in the statement.

"Air Products' engineers have developed an innovative solution incorporating several parts of our business to create a nitrogen-refrigeration system that will be transported deep underground and modularly assembled in the underground caverns," he said.

Air Products has more than 21,000 employees and operations in more than 50 countries. Its fiscal 2022 sales were $12.7 billion.

The company is the world's largest producer of hydrogen and is promoting a clean-energy transition away from fossil fuels.

Shares in the company are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol APD. The closing share price Wednesday was $298.59. In early trading at 8:50 a.m. Thursday, shares were up about 1% to $301.87.

The company's market capitalization at its current price is $66.3 billion.