30 research outputs found
High sensitivity GEM experiment on double beta decay of 76-Ge
The GEM project is designed for the next generation 2 beta decay experiments
with 76-Ge. One ton of ''naked'' HP Ge detectors (natural at the first GEM-I
phase and enriched in 76-Ge to 86% at the second GEM-II stage) are operating in
super-high purity liquid nitrogen contained in the Cu vacuum cryostat (sphere
with diameter 5 m). The latest is placed in the water shield. Monte Carlo
simulation evidently shows that sensitivity of the experiment (in terms of the
T1/2 limit for neutrinoless 2 beta decay) is 10^27 yr with natural HP Ge
crystals and 10^28 yr with enriched ones. These bounds corresponds to the
restrictions on the neutrino mass less than 0.05 eV and 0.015 eV with natural
and enriched detectors, respectively. Besides, the GEM-I set up could advance
the current best limits on the existence of neutralinos - as dark matter
candidates - by three order of magnitudes, and at the same time would be able
to identify unambiguously the dark matter signal by detection of its seasonal
modulation.Comment: LaTeX, 20 pages, 4 figure
New limits on dark--matter WIMPs from the Heidelberg--Moscow experiment
New results after 0.69 kg yr of measurement with an enriched 76Ge detector of
the Heidelberg--Moscow experiment with an active mass of 2.758 kg are
presented. An energy threshold of 9 keV and a background level of 0.042
counts/(kg d keV) in the energy region between 15 keV and 40 keV was
reached.The derived limits on the WIMP--nucleon cross section are the most
stringent limits on spin--independent interactions obtained to date by using
essentially raw data without background subtraction.Comment: 8 pages (latex) including 5 postscript figures and 2 tables. To
appear in Phys. Rev. D, 15. December 199
On the direct search for spin-dependent WIMP interactions
We examine the current directions in the search for spin-dependent dark
matter. We discover that, with few exceptions, the search activity is
concentrated towards constraints on the WIMP-neutron spin coupling, with
significantly less impact in the WIMP-proton sector. We review the situation of
those experiments with WIMP-proton spin sensitivity, toward identifying those
capable of reestablishing the balance.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
A Large Scale Double Beta and Dark Matter Experiment: GENIUS
The recent results from the HEIDELBERG-MOSCOW experiment have demonstrated
the large potential of double beta decay to search for new physics beyond the
Standard Model. To increase by a major step the present sensitivity for double
beta decay and dark matter search much bigger source strengths and much lower
backgrounds are needed than used in experiments under operation at present or
under construction. We present here a study of a project proposed recently,
which would operate one ton of 'naked' enriched GErmanium-detectors in liquid
NItrogen as shielding in an Underground Setup (GENIUS). It improves the
sensitivity to neutrino masses to 0.01 eV. A ten ton version would probe
neutrino masses even down to 10^-3 eV. The first version would allow to test
the atmospheric neutrino problem, the second at least part of the solar
neutrino problem. Both versions would allow in addition significant
contributions to testing several classes of GUT models. These are especially
tests of R-parity breaking supersymmetry models, leptoquark masses and
mechanism and right-handed W-boson masses comparable to LHC. The second issue
of the experiment is the search for dark matter in the universe. The entire
MSSM parameter space for prediction of neutralinos as dark matter particles
could be covered already in a first step of the full experiment - with the same
purity requirements but using only 100 kg of 76Ge or even of natural Ge -
making the experiment competitive to LHC in the search for supersymmetry.
The layout of the proposed experiment is discussed and the shielding and
purity requirements are studied using GEANT Monte Carlo simulations. As a
demonstration of the feasibility of the experiment first results of operating a
'naked' Ge detector in liquid nitrogen are presented.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures, see also
http://pluto.mpi-hd.mpg.de/~betalit/genius.htm
Detection Rates for Kaluza-Klein Dark Matter
We consider the lightest Kaluza-Klein particle at N=1 mode (LKP) of universal
extra dimension to be the candidate for Dark Matter and predict the detection
rates for such particles for Germenium and NaI detectors. We have also
calculated the nature of annual modulation for the signals in these two types
of detectors for LKP Dark Matter. The rates with different values of speed of
solar system in the Galactic rest frame are also evaluated.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.
First Results from the Heidelberg Dark Matter Search Experiment
The Heidelberg Dark Matter Search Experiment (HDMS) is a new ionization
Germanium experiment in a special design. Two concentric Ge crystals are housed
by one cryostat system, the outer detector acting as an effective shield
against multiple scattered photons for the inner crystal, which is the actual
dark matter target. We present first results after successfully running the
prototype detector for a period of about 15 months in the Gran Sasso
Underground Laboratory. We analyze the results in terms of limits on
WIMP-nucleon cross sections and present the status of the full scale
experiment, which will be installed in Gran Sasso in the course of this year.Comment: 11 pages, latex, 4 tables, 10 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.
Elastic Scattering and Direct Detection of Kaluza-Klein Dark Matter
Recently a new dark matter candidate has been proposed as a consequence of
universal compact extra dimensions. It was found that to account for
cosmological observations, the masses of the first Kaluza-Klein modes (and thus
the approximate size of the extra dimension) should be in the range 600-1200
GeV when the lightest Kaluza-Klein particle (LKP) corresponds to the
hypercharge boson and in the range 1 - 1.8 TeV when it corresponds to a
neutrino. In this article, we compute the elastic scattering cross sections
between Kaluza-Klein dark matter and nuclei both when the lightest Kaluza-Klein
particle is a KK mode of a weak gauge boson, and when it is a neutrino. We
include nuclear form factor effects which are important to take into account
due to the large LKP masses favored by estimates of the relic density. We
present both differential and integrated rates for present and proposed
Germanium, NaI and Xenon detectors. Observable rates at current detectors are
typically less than one event per year, but the next generation of detectors
can probe a significant fraction of the relevant parameter space.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures; v2,v3: Ref. added, discussion improved,
conclusions unchanged. v4: Introduction was expanded to be more appropriate
for non experts. Various clarifications added in the text. Version to be
published in New Journal of Physic
Nuclear spin structure in dark matter search: The finite momentum transfer limit
Spin-dependent elastic scattering of weakly interacting massive dark matter
particles (WIMP) off nuclei is reviewed. All available, within different
nuclear models, structure functions S(q) for finite momentum transfer (q>0) are
presented. These functions describe the recoil energy dependence of the
differential event rate due to the spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon interactions.
This paper, together with the previous paper ``Nuclear spin structure in dark
matter search: The zero momentum transfer limit'', completes our review of the
nuclear spin structure calculations involved in the problem of direct dark
matter search.Comment: 39 pages, 12 figures, a review in revtex