"Direct Searches for Dark Matter Using Noble Liquids"

“使用惰性液体直接搜索暗物质”

• 批准号: 0800526
• 负责人: Daniel McKinsey
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-07-01 至 2010-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0800526&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Direct; Searches; Dark; Matter; Using

PROPOSAL NUMBER: 0800526INSTITUTION: Yale UniversityNSF PROGRAM: PHY - PARTICLE ASTROPHYSICSPRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: McKinsey, DanielTITLE: "Direct Searches for Dark Matter Using Noble Liquids" ABSTRACTAstronomical observations indicate that the universe is dominated by some unidentified dark matter whose total mass exceeds that of normal matter by a factor 5-10. A theoretically favored dark matter candidate is a new weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) interacting only weakly but nevertheless producing rare nuclear recoils detectable in suitable targets. This award will provide funds to enable this research group at Yale University to contribute to the LUX dark matter experiment that promises to substantially improve the sensitivity to, or discover, the existence of WIMPs. LUX is a proposed two-phase (liquid/gas) xenon experiment, with a liquid xenon (LXe) time projection chamber mass of 300 kg. LUX is based on the same basic technology as the recent XENON10 experiment which has set stringent limits on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic scattering cross-section. On LUX, this group will be responsible for the slow control electronics, xenon purification systems, and a system for deploying radioactive sources for detector calibration. Among the Broader Impacts, the development of technology related to noble liquid detectors will find use in the increasing number of experiments worldwide using noble liquids as detection materials. These projects will also result in technical training in radiation detection, cryogenics, and gas purification for graduate and undergraduate students. LXe, LAr, and LNe may have practical application to gamma ray imaging for astrophysics, Homeland Security, and medical imaging, as well as for fast neutron detection.

项目编号：0800526机构：耶鲁大学nsf项目：物理-粒子天体物理学负责人：麦肯锡，丹尼尔标题：“利用贵重液体直接搜索暗物质”摘要：天文观测表明，宇宙由一些不明暗物质主导，其总质量超过正常物质5-10倍。理论上受欢迎的暗物质候选者是一种新的弱相互作用大质量粒子（WIMP），这种粒子的相互作用很弱，但却能产生罕见的核反冲，在合适的目标中可以探测到。该奖项将提供资金，使耶鲁大学的研究小组能够为LUX暗物质实验做出贡献，该实验有望大幅提高对wimp存在的灵敏度或发现wimp的存在。LUX是一个拟议的两相（液/气）氙实验，液体氙（LXe）时间投影室质量为300 kg。LUX基于与最近XENON10实验相同的基本技术，XENON10实验对自旋无关的wimp -核子弹性散射截面设置了严格的限制。在LUX上，该小组将负责慢速控制电子设备、氙净化系统和用于部署探测器校准放射源的系统。在更广泛的影响中，贵重液体探测器相关技术的发展将在世界范围内使用贵重液体作为检测材料的越来越多的实验中得到应用。这些项目还将为研究生和本科生提供辐射探测、低温学和气体净化方面的技术培训。LXe、LAr和LNe可能在天体物理学、国土安全、医学成像以及快中子探测的伽马射线成像中有实际应用。