54 research outputs found
Expected Performance of CryoArray
WIMP-nucleon cross sections below 10^(-9) pb may be probed by ton-scale
experiments with low thresholds and background rates ~20 events per year. An
array of cryogenic detectors ("CryoArray") could perform well enough to reach
this goal. Sufficient discrimination and background suppression of photons has
already been demonstrated. Reduction of neutron backgrounds may be achieved by
siting the experiment deep enough. Removal of the surface-electron backgrounds
alone has not yet been demonstrated, but the reductions required even for this
troublesome background are quite modest and appear achieveable.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Talk at DM2002 Conference, Marina del Rey, CA,
Feb 20-22, 200
Light Neutralinos and WIMP direct searches
The predictions of our previous analyses about possible low-mass (lower than
50 GeV) relic neutralinos are discussed in the light of the most recent results
from WIMP direct detection experiments. It is proved that these light
neutralinos are quite compatible with the new annual-modulation data of the
DAMA Collaboration; our theoretical predictions are also compared with the
upper bounds of the CDMS and EDELWEISS Collaborations.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figures, typeset with ReVTeX4. The paper may also be found
at http://www.to.infn.it/~fornengo/papers/note.ps.gz or through
http://www.to.infn.it/astropart/index.htm
LUX trigger efficiency
The Large Underground Xenon experiment (LUX) searches for dark matter using a dual-phase xenon detector. LUX uses a custom-developed trigger system for event selection. In this paper, the trigger efficiency, which is defined as the probability that an event of interest is selected for offline analysis, is studied using raw data obtained from both electron recoil (ER) and nuclear recoil (NR) calibrations. The measured efficiency exceeds 98\% at a pulse area of 90 detected photons, which is well below the WIMP analysis threshold on the S2 pulse area. The efficiency also exceeds 98\% at recoil energies of 1.3 keV and above, for both ER and NR. The measured trigger efficiency varies between 99\% and 100\% over the fiducial volume of the detector.Peer Reviewe
Radiogenic and Muon-Induced Backgrounds in the LUX Dark Matter Detector
The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment aims to detect rare low-energy interactions from Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). The radiogenic backgrounds in the LUX detector have been measured and compared with Monte Carlo simulation. Measurements of LUX high-energy data have provided direct constraints on all background sources contributing to the background model. The expected background rate from the background model for the 85.3 day WIMP search run is ~events~keV~kg~day in a 118~kg fiducial volume. The observed background rate is ~events~keV~kg~day, consistent with model projections. The expectation for the radiogenic background in a subsequent one-year run is presented.Peer Reviewe
The LUX Experiment
We present the status and prospects of the LUX experiment, which employs approximately 300 kg of two-phase xenon to search for WIMP dark matter interactions. The LUX detector was commissioned at the surface laboratory of the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, SD, between December 2011 and February 2012 and the detector has been operating underground since January, 2013. These proceedings review the results of the commissioning run as well as the status of underground data-taking through the summer of 2013.Peer Reviewe
Electron - nuclear recoil discrimination by pulse shape analysis
In the framework of the ``ULTIMA'' project, we use ultra cold superfluid 3He
bolometers for the direct detection of single particle events, aimed for a
future use as a dark matter detector. One parameter of the pulse shape observed
after such an event is the thermalization time constant. Until now it was
believed that this parameter only depends on geometrical factors and superfluid
3He properties, and that it is independent of the nature of the incident
particles. In this report we show new results which demonstrate that a
difference for muon- and neutron events, as well as events simulated by heater
pulses exist. The possibility to use this difference for event discrimination
in a future dark matter detector will be discussed.Comment: Proseedings of QFS 2007, Kazan, Russia; 8 pages, 4 figures. Submited
to J. Low Temp. Phy
Demonstration of radon removal from SF6 using molecular sieves
The gas SF6 has become of interest as a negative ion drift gas for use in directional
dark matter searches. However, as for other targets in such searches, it is important that radon
contamination can be removed as this provides a source of unwanted background events. In this
work we demonstrate for the first time filtration of radon from SF6 gas by using a molecular
sieve. Four types of sieves from Sigma-Aldrich were investigated, namely 3Å, 4Å, 5Å and 13X.
A manufactured radon source was used for the tests. This was attached to a closed loop system in
which gas was flowed through the filters and a specially adapted Durridge RAD7 radon detector.
In these measurements, it was found that only the 5Å type was able to significantly reduce the
radon concentration without absorbing the SF6 gas. The sieve was able to reduce the initial radon
concentration of 3875 ± 13 Bqm−3
in SF6 gas by 87% when cooled with dry ice. The ability of
the cooled 5Å molecular sieve filter to significantly reduce radon concentration from SF6 provides
a promising foundation for the construction of a radon filtration setup for future ultra-sensitive SF6
gas rare-event physics experiments
CDMS, Supersymmetry and Extra Dimensions
The CDMS experiment aims to directly detect massive, cold dark matter
particles originating from the Milky Way halo. Charge and lattice excitations
are detected after a particle scatters in a Ge or Si crystal kept at ~30 mK,
allowing to separate nuclear recoils from the dominating electromagnetic
background. The operation of 12 detectors in the Soudan mine for 75 live days
in 2004 delivered no evidence for a signal, yielding stringent limits on dark
matter candidates from supersymmetry and universal extra dimensions. Thirty Ge
and Si detectors are presently installed in the Soudan cryostat, and operating
at base temperature. The run scheduled to start in 2006 is expected to yield a
one order of magnitude increase in dark matter sensitivity.Comment: To be published in the proceedings of the 7th UCLA symposium on
sources and detection of dark matter and dark energy in the universe, Marina
del Rey, Feb 22-24, 200
Second Order Power Corrections in the Heavy Quark Effective Theory I. Formalism and Meson Form Factors
In the heavy quark effective theory, hadronic matrix elements of currents
between two hadrons containing a heavy quark are expanded in inverse powers of
the heavy quark masses, with coefficients that are functions of the kinematic
variable . For the ground state pseudoscalar and vector mesons, this
expansion is constructed at order . A minimal set of universal form
factors is defined in terms of matrix elements of higher dimension operators in
the effective theory. The zero recoil normalization conditions following from
vector current conservation are derived. Several phenomenological applications
of the general results are discussed in detail. It is argued that at zero
recoil the semileptonic decay rates for and receive only small second order corrections, which are unlikely
to exceed the level of a few percent. This supports the usefulness of the heavy
quark expansion for a reliable determination of .Comment: (34 pages, REVTEX, two postscript figures available upon request),
SLAC-PUB-589
Exclusion limits on the WIMP-nucleon cross-section from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search
The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) employs low-temperature Ge and Si
detectors to search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) via their
elastic-scattering interactions with nuclei while discriminating against
interactions of background particles. For recoil energies above 10 keV, events
due to background photons are rejected with >99.9% efficiency, and surface
events are rejected with >95% efficiency. The estimate of the background due to
neutrons is based primarily on the observation of multiple-scatter events that
should all be neutrons. Data selection is determined primarily by examining
calibration data and vetoed events. Resulting efficiencies should be accurate
to about 10%. Results of CDMS data from 1998 and 1999 with a relaxed
fiducial-volume cut (resulting in 15.8 kg-days exposure on Ge) are consistent
with an earlier analysis with a more restrictive fiducial-volume cut.
Twenty-three WIMP candidate events are observed, but these events are
consistent with a background from neutrons in all ways tested. Resulting limits
on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic-scattering cross-section exclude
unexplored parameter space for WIMPs with masses between 10-70 GeV c^{-2}.
These limits border, but do not exclude, parameter space allowed by
supersymmetry models and accelerator constraints. Results are compatible with
some regions reported as allowed at 3-sigma by the annual-modulation
measurement of the DAMA collaboration. However, under the assumptions of
standard WIMP interactions and a standard halo, the results are incompatible
with the DAMA most likely value at >99.9% CL, and are incompatible with the
model-independent annual-modulation signal of DAMA at 99.99% CL in the
asymptotic limit.Comment: 40 pages, 49 figures (4 in color), submitted to Phys. Rev. D;
v.2:clarified conclusions, added content and references based on referee's
and readers' comments; v.3: clarified introductory sections, added figure
based on referee's comment
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