25 research outputs found
Heart of Darkness: The Significance of the Zeptobarn Scale for Neutralino Direct Detection
The direct detection of dark matter through its elastic scattering off
nucleons is among the most promising methods for establishing the particle
identity of dark matter. The current bound on the spin-independent scattering
cross section is sigma^SI < 10 zb for dark matter masses m_chi ~ 100 GeV, with
improved sensitivities expected soon. We examine the implications of this
progress for neutralino dark matter. We work in a supersymmetric framework
well-suited to dark matter studies that is simple and transparent, with models
defined in terms of four weak-scale parameters. We first show that robust
constraints on electric dipole moments motivate large sfermion masses mtilde >
1 TeV, effectively decoupling squarks and sleptons from neutralino dark matter
phenomenology. In this case, we find characteristic cross sections in the
narrow range 1 zb 70 GeV. As sfermion masses are
lowered to near their experimental limit mtilde ~ 400 GeV, the upper and lower
limits of this range are extended, but only by factors of around two, and the
lower limit is not significantly altered by relaxing many particle physics
assumptions, varying the strange quark content of the nucleon, including the
effects of galactic small-scale structure, or assuming other components of dark
matter. Experiments are therefore rapidly entering the heart of dark
matter-favored supersymmetry parameter space. If no signal is seen,
supersymmetric models must contain some level of fine-tuning, and we identify
and analyze several possibilities. Barring large cancellations, however, in a
large and generic class of models, if thermal relic neutralinos are a
significant component of dark matter, experiments will discover them as they
probe down to the zeptobarn scale.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figures; v2: references added, figures extended to 2 TeV
neutralino masses, XENON100 results included, published versio
Luminescence quenching of the triplet excimer state by air traces in gaseous argon
While developing a liquid argon detector for dark matter searches we
investigate the influence of air contamination on the VUV scintillation yield
in gaseous argon at atmospheric pressure. We determine with a radioactive
alpha-source the photon yield for various partial air pressures and different
reflectors and wavelength shifters. We find for the fast scintillation
component a time constant tau1= 11.3 +- 2.8 ns, independent of gas purity.
However, the decay time of the slow component depends on gas purity and is a
good indicator for the total VUV light yield. This dependence is attributed to
impurities destroying the long-lived argon excimer states. The population ratio
between the slowly and the fast decaying excimer states is determined for
alpha-particles to be 5.5 +-0.6 in argon gas at 1100 mbar and room temperature.
The measured mean life of the slow component is tau2 = 3.140 +- 0.067 microsec
at a partial air pressure of 2 x 10-6 mbar.Comment: 7 pages submitted to NIM
Demonstration and Comparison of Operation of Photomultiplier Tubes at Liquid Argon Temperature
Liquified noble gases are widely used as a target in direct Dark Matter
searches. Signals from scintillation in the liquid, following energy deposition
from the recoil nuclei scattered by Dark Matter particles (e.g. WIMPs), should
be recorded down to very low energies by photosensors suitably designed to
operate at cryogenic temperatures. Liquid Argon based detectors for Dark Matter
searches currently implement photo multiplier tubes for signal read-out. In the
last few years PMTs with photocathodes operating down to liquid Argon
temperatures (87 K) have been specially developed with increasing Quantum
Efficiency characteristics. The most recent of these, Hamamatsu Photonics Mod.
R11065 with peak QE up to about 35%, has been extensively tested within the R&D
program of the WArP Collaboration. During these testes the Hamamatsu PMTs
showed superb performance and allowed obtaining a light yield around 7
phel/keVee in a Liquid Argon detector with a photocathodic coverage in the 12%
range, sufficient for detection of events down to few keVee of energy
deposition. This shows that this new type of PMT is suited for experimental
applications, in particular for new direct Dark Matter searches with LAr-based
experiments
Stable operation with gain of a double phase Liquid Argon LEM-TPC with a 1 mm thick segmented LEM
In this paper we present results from a test of a small Liquid Argon Large
Electron Multiplier Time Projection Chamber (LAr LEM-TPC). This detector
concept provides a 3D-tracking and calorimetric device capable of charge
amplification, suited for next-generation neutrino detectors and possibly
direct Dark Matter searches. During a test of a 3~lt chamber equipped with a
1010~cm readout, cosmic muon data was recorded during three weeks
of data taking. A maximum gain of 6.5 was achieved and the liquid argon was
kept pure enough to ensure 20~cm drift (O(ppb)~O equivalent).Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Proc. of 1st International Workshop
towards the Giant Liquid Argon Charge Imaging Experiment (GLA2010), Tsukuba
(Japan), March 201
Argon Purification Studies and a Novel Liquid Argon Re-circulation System
Future giant liquid argon (LAr) time projection chambers (TPCs) require a
purity of better than 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) to allow the ionised
electrons to drift without significant capture by any electronegative
impurities. We present a comprehensive study of the effects of electronegative
impurity on gaseous and liquid argon scintillation light, an analysis of the
efficacy of various purification chemicals, as well as the Liverpool LAr setup,
which utilises a novel re-circulation purification system. Of the impurities
tested - Air, O_2, H_2O, N_2 and CO_2 in the range of between 0.01 ppm to 1000
ppm - H_2O was found to have the most profound effect on gaseous argon
scintillation light, and N_2 was found to have the least. Additionally, a
correlation between the slow component decay time and the total energy
deposited with 0.01 ppm - 100 ppm O_2 contamination levels in liquid argon has
been established. The superiority of molecular sieves over anhydrous complexes
at absorbing Ar gas, N_2 gas and H_2O vapour has been quantified using BET
isotherm analysis. The efficiency of Cu and P_2O5 at removing O_2 and H_2O
impurities from 1 bar N6 argon gas at both room temperature and -130 ^oC was
investigated and found to be high. A novel, highly scalable LAr re-circulation
system has been developed. The complete system, consisting of a motorised
bellows pump operating in liquid and a purification cartridge, were designed
and built in-house. The system was operated successfully over many days and
achieved a re-circulation rate of 27 litres/hour and high purity
Effects of Nitrogen contamination in liquid Argon
A dedicated test of the effects of Nitrogen contamination in liquid Argon has
been performed at the INFN-Gran Sasso Laboratory (LNGS, Italy) within the WArP
R&D program. A detector has been designed and assembled for this specific task
and connected to a system for the injection of controlled amounts of gaseous
Nitrogen into the liquid Argon. Purpose of the test is to detect the reduction
of the Ar scintillation light emission as a function of the amount of the
Nitrogen contaminant injected in the Argon volume. A wide concentration range,
spanning from about 10^-1 ppm up to about 10^3 ppm, has been explored.
Measurements have been done with electrons in the energy range of minimum
ionizing particles (gamma-conversion from radioactive sources). Source spectra
at different Nitrogen contaminations are analyzed, showing sensitive reduction
of the scintillation yield at increasing concentrations. The rate constant of
the light quenching process induced by Nitrogen in liquid Ar has been found to
be k(N2)=0.11 micros^-1 ppm^-1. Direct PMT signals acquisition at high time
resolution by fast Waveform recording allowed to extract with high precision
the main characteristics of the scintillation light emission in pure and
contaminated LAr. In particular, the decreasing behavior in lifetime and
relative amplitude of the slow component is found to be appreciable from O(1
ppm) of Nitrogen concentrations
Target dark matter detection rates in models with a well-tempered neutralino
In the post-LEP2 era, and in light of recent measurements of the cosmic
abundance of cold dark matter (CDM) in the universe from WMAP, many
supersymmetric models tend to predict 1. an overabundance of CDM and 2.
pessimistically low rates for direct detection of neutralino dark matter.
However, in models with a ``well-tempered neutralino'', where the neutralino
composition is adjusted to give the measured abundance of CDM, the neutralino
is typically of the mixed bino-wino or mixed bino-higgsino state. Along with
the necessary enhancement to neutralino annihilation rates, these models tend
to give elevated direct detection scattering rates compared to predictions from
SUSY models with universal soft breaking terms. We present neutralino direct
detection cross sections from a variety of models containing a well-tempered
neutralino, and find cross section asymptotes with detectable scattering rates.
These asymptotic rates provide targets that various direct CDM detection
experiments should aim for. In contrast, in models where the neutralino mass
rather than its composition is varied to give the WMAP relic density via either
resonance annihilation or co-annihilation, the neutralino remains essentially
bino-like, and direct detection rates may be below the projected reaches of all
proposed experiments.Comment: 13 pages including 1 EPS figur
Summary of the second workshop on liquid argon time projection chamber research and development in the United States
The second workshop to discuss the development of liquid argon time projection
chambers (LArTPCs) in the United States was held at Fermilab on July 8-9, 2014. The workshop
was organized under the auspices of the Coordinating Panel for Advanced Detectors, a body that
was initiated by the American Physical Society Division of Particles and Fields. All presentations
at the workshop were made in six topical plenary sessions: i) Argon Purity and Cryogenics, ii)
TPC and High Voltage, iii) Electronics, Data Acquisition and Triggering, iv) Scintillation Light
Detection, v) Calibration and Test Beams, and vi) Software. This document summarizes the current
efforts in each of these areas. It primarily focuses on the work in the US, but also highlights work
done elsewhere in the world
Oxygen contamination in liquid Argon: combined effects on ionization electron charge and scintillation light
A dedicated test of the effects of Oxygen contamination in liquid Argon has
been performed at the INFN-Gran Sasso Laboratory (LNGS, Italy) within the WArP
R&D program. Two detectors have been used: the WArP 2.3 lt prototype and a
small (0.7 lt) dedicated detector, coupled with a system for the injection of
controlled amounts of gaseous Oxygen. Purpose of the test with the 0.7 lt
detector is to detect the reduction of the long-lived component lifetime of the
Argon scintillation light emission at increasing O2 concentration. Data from
the WArP prototype are used for determining the behavior of both the ionization
electron lifetime and the scintillation long-lived component lifetime during
the O2-purification process activated in closed loop during the acquisition
run. The electron lifetime measurements allow to infer the O2 content of the
Argon and correlate it with the long-lived scintillation lifetime data. The
effect of Oxygen contamination on the scintillation light has been thus
measured over a wide range of O2 concentration, spanning from about 10^-3 ppm
up to about 10 ppm. The rate constant of the light quenching process induced by
Oxygen in LAr has been found to be k'(O2)=0.54+-0.03 micros^-1 ppm^-1
Design and construction of the MicroBooNE detector
This paper describes the design and construction of the MicroBooNE liquid
argon time projection chamber and associated systems. MicroBooNE is the first
phase of the Short Baseline Neutrino program, located at Fermilab, and will
utilize the capabilities of liquid argon detectors to examine a rich assortment
of physics topics. In this document details of design specifications, assembly
procedures, and acceptance tests are reported