DUSEL R&D: New WIMP Detector Technique Based on High Pressure Xenon Gas

大量的科学证据表明，宇宙中的大多数物质都是以弱相互作用大质量粒子（WIMP）的形式存在的，其性质在很大程度上是未知的。由于银河系的晕似乎主要是暗物质，因此通过观察WIMP与正常原子的碰撞，在实验室中直接探测的可能性是存在的。该奖项将提供资金，以开发，建造和操作一种基于高压气态氙（HPXe）的新型鉴别WIMP探测器，其主要目的是确定其在未来大规模DUSEL实验中的可行性。该小组最近的测量结果沿着理论考虑表明，与液相氙相比，HPXe中的核反冲辨别力可能是上级的。拟议工作的一个重要组成部分将是确定这是否是实际探测器的情况。作为更广泛影响的一部分，开发一种检测亚原子粒子相互作用的新仪器将影响与该项目有关的本科生、研究生和博士后的教育。学生将在所有阶段工作，包括设计，制造，装配，数据采集和分析。最终产品还可以在采用辐射检测的其他领域中具有应用。

A large body of scientific evidence suggests that most of the matter in the universe is in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) whose properties are largely unknown. Since the halo of the Milky Way galaxy appears to be mostly dark matter, the possibility of direct detection in the laboratory exists via observation of WIMP collisions with normal atoms. This award will provide funds to develop, construct and operate a new type of discriminating WIMP detector based on high pressure gaseous xenon (HPXe) with the primary aim being to ascertain its viability for a future large-scale DUSEL experiment. Recent measurements by this group along with theoretical considerations suggest that nuclear recoil discrimination may be superior in HPXe compared to liquid phase xenon. An important component of the proposed work will be to determine if this is the case in a practical detector. As part of the Broader Impacts, the development of a new instrument to detect subatomic particle interactions will impact the educations of the undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral associates connected with the project. Students will work on all phases including design, fabrication, assembly, data acquisition, and analysis. The final product may also have applications in other fields where radiation detection is employed.