I propose to apply the techniques of system identification, time domain modelling, and multi-computer data analysis to build sophisticated new models of world-class detectors for weakly interacting dark matter (WIMPs) now being assembled in the United Kingdom. The aim of this program is significant strengthening our understanding of the time evolution of the physical characteristics of these detectors, greatly improving their sensitivity to dark matter, which is thought to make up over eighty percent of the matter in the universe.

These techniques were applied successfully by the proposer to several problems relating to my previous research on the Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in the United States. The proposer is uniquely qualified to spearhead a research effort to apply these powerful techniques to enhance the sensitivity of dark matter detectors in the United Kingdom, strengthening this research effort in the race with competitor groups in the United States and elsewhere around the world. Applications of this research to GEO, a European gravitational-wave observatory, will also be explored through the proposer's membership in the GEO scientific collaboration.