The CRESST dark matter search

The CRESST (Cryogenic Rare Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers) experiment at the Gran Sasso Laboratory will search for dark matter WIMPs using cryogenic detectors. In the first stage we will use four 262 g sapphire crystals with thresholds of about 0.5 keV. This low threshold gives us sensitivity to WIMP masses below 10 GeV, making CRESST complementary to other dark matter searches. The main installation in Gran Sasso is now complete and we report on the first detector tests

Status of CRESST Dark Matter Search

We are preparing the CRESST (Cryogenic Rare Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers) experiment to search for dark matter WIMPs using cryogenic detectors. Our experiment is complementary to other dark matter searches in that it extends the sensitivity to WIMP masses below 10 GeV, and that different target materials could be used within the same setup. In the first stage we plan to use four 262 g sapphire crystals with FWHM energy resolutions of 0.2 keV at 1 keV and thresholds of 0.5 keV. The detectors will run at a temperature of about 15 mK within a low-background setup which is currently being installed in the Gran Sasso Laboratory. First results are expected in 1997. Paper pa14-005 contributed to the 28th International Conference on High Energy Physics, 25--31 July 1996, Warsaw. Contact: [email protected]. y Permanent Address: Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics, EE-0026 Tallinn, Estonia. z Permanent Address: Institute of Physics, EE-2400 Tartu, Estonia. ..

Cryogenic particle detectors with superconducting phase transition thermometers

A tungsten superconducting phase transition thermometer on a 32 g sapphire crystal has given an energy resolution of 100 eV (FWHM) for 1.5 keV X-rays, increasing to 440 eV at 14 keV. A possibility to obtain similar resolution in much larger crystals by using Al films as phonon collectors is presented

Global Food Security Governance: Civil Society Engagement in the Reformed Committee on World Food Security

In 2007/8 world food prices spiked and global economic crisis set in, leaving hundreds of millions of people unable to access adequate food. The international reaction was swift. In a bid for leadership, the 123 member countries of the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security (CFS) adopted a series of reforms with the aim of becoming the foremost international, inclusive and intergovernmental platform for food security. Central to the reform was the inclusion of participants (including civil society and the private sector) across all activities of the Committee. Drawing on data collected from policy documents, interviews and participant observation, this book examines the re-organization and functioning of a UN Committee that is coming to be known as a best practice in global governance. Framed by key challenges that plague global governance, the impact and implication of increased civil society engagement are examined by tracing policy negotiations within the CFS, in particular, policy roundtables on smallholder sensitive investment and food price volatility and negotiations on the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, and the Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition. The author shows that through their participation in the Committee, civil society actors are influencing policy outcomes. Yet analysis also reveals that the CFS is being undermined by other actors seeking to gain and maintain influence at the global level. By way of this analysis, this book provides empirically-informed insights into increased participation in global governance processes

Cryogenic particle detectors with superconducting phase transition thermometers

A tungsten superconducting phase transition thermometer on a 32 g sapphire crystal has given an energy resolution of 100 eV (FWHM) for 1.5 keV X-rays, increasing to 440 eV at 14 keV. A possibility to obtain similar resolution in much larger crystals by using Al films as phonon collectors is presented