CAREER: Increasing the Dark Matter Science Reach of the SuperCDMS Experiment

暗物质的本质是当今物理学中最重要的研究课题之一。它涉及粒子物理学、天体物理学和宇宙学中尚未解决的基本问题。这个奖项将使我们能够探索一个非常有趣的理论相空间的新区域，寻找可行的弱相互作用大质量粒子（WIMP）候选者，以提高我们对暗物质的理解：它是什么，它在哪里，它如何与标准模型粒子相互作用，以及它在宇宙的演化和命运中扮演什么角色。研究目标是要么测量暗物质信号，要么为60 GeV的WIMP质量设定一个WIMP-核子横截面的极限。这将通过PI作为冷暗物质搜索（CDMS）合作成员的工作来实现。方法是提高效率，降低现有探测器的低能量阈值，使实验的科学范围增加2倍，并为下一阶段的超级cdms实现新的更高性能，更大质量的探测器。该项目的更广泛影响包括增加少数族裔申请物理学和天文学研究生课程的人数。该方法是通过麻省理工学院的暑期项目，增加这些学生在研究方面的机会。PI将与hbcu和hsi合作，邀请有才华的学生参加暑期研究，在期刊俱乐部发表演讲，与麻省理工学院的少数族裔研究生建立联系，并与波士顿社区的当地高中进行接触。高分辨率低温探测器的物理研究和新的分析技术在天体物理、核物理和固体物理等其他领域都有应用。

The nature of dark matter is one of the most important research topics in physics today. It pertains to fundamental unanswered questions in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. This award will enable a probe of a very interesting new region of theoretical phase space for viable Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) candidates in the search for dark matter in order to improve our understanding of it: what it is, where it is, how it interacts with Standard Model particles, and what its role is in the evolution and fate of the universe. The research objective is to either measure a dark matter signal or set a limit on the WIMP-nucleon cross-section for a 60 GeV WIMP mass. This will be reached through the PI's work as a member of the Cold Dark Matter Search (CDMS) collaboration. The approach is to improve the efficiency and to reduce the lower energy threshold of their current detectors to obtain a factor of 2 increase in the science reach of the experiment, and to implement new higher-performance, more massive detectors for the next phase of SuperCDMS. The Broader Impacts of this project include increasing the pool of under-represented minority applicants to graduate programs in physics and astronomy. The approach is to increase the exposure of these students to opportunities in research through a summer program at MIT. The PI will work with HBCUs and HSIs to bring talented students for a summer of research, journal club presentations, networking with MIT minority graduate students, and outreach to local high schools in the Boston community. Research in the physics of high-resolution low-temperature detectors and new analysis techniques have applications in other fields such as astrophysics, nuclear physics, and solid-state physics.