Detection of WIMP Dark Matter

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。它将资助锡拉丘兹大学小组参与低温暗物质搜索（CDMS）实验和研究，以开发和测试探测器，用于未来可能的暗物质探测实验。观测表明，宇宙中80%的物质不是由正常原子组成的，而是不发射或吸收光的未被检测到的基本暗物质粒子。粒子物理学理论预测存在弱相互作用大质量粒子（WIMPs），它们的性质正好是这种暗物质。如果WIMP是暗物质，那么当它们在地球上的探测器中散射时，它们可能是可以探测到的。为了检测预期的低WIMP相互作用率，实验必须提供来自背景放射性的相互作用的精确拒绝。对于大多数实验，探测器表面的放射性污染提供了主要的背景。SuperCDMS的工作集中在通过两种方法消除这些背景。首先，他们将实现更好地拒绝表面相互作用的事件重建辅助详细模拟的检测器响应。第二，该小组将减少表面污染的数量，由世界上最灵敏的放射性表面污染探测器BetaCage提供帮助，该探测器正在与加州理工学院的一个小组一起建造。在更广泛的影响中，声子介导探测器的技术发展在天文学和物理学中有着广泛的应用。BetaCage筛选器的运行和改进对其他稀有事件搜索甚至硅芯片行业产生了更广泛的影响。它用于痕量放射性计数应用，如14-C和氚放射性同位素测年，可应用于其他科学领域，许多对社会有重大利益。此外，作为SuperCDMS合作的一部分，该集团将积极开发和参与苏丹矿山的公共宣传计划，该矿山每年接待60，000名游客和数十个课程。最后，该项目将支持锡拉丘兹科学技术博物馆的博物馆展览的规划、开发和建设，该展览将向公众介绍暗物质，通过欣赏宇宙的奇迹来增加他们对现代科学的理解。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).It will fund the Syracuse University group to participate in the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment and research to develop and test detectors for possible future Dark Matter detection experiments. Observations indicate that 80% of the matter in the Universe is not made of normal atoms, but must be otherwise undetected elementary Dark Matter particles that do not emit or absorb light. Particle physics theories predict the existence of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) with just the right properties to be this dark matter. If WIMPs are the dark matter, they may be detectable when they scatter in Earth-based detectors. To detect the low expected WIMP interaction rate, experiments must provide exquisite rejection of interactions from background radioactivity. For most experiments, radioactive contamination on the detector surfaces provides the dominant background. SuperCDMS work concentrates on removing these backgrounds through two methods. First, they will achieve better rejection of surface interactions by event reconstruction aided by detailed simulations of the detector response. Second, the group will reduce the amount of surface contamination, aided by the world's most sensitive detector of radioactive surface contamination, the BetaCage, being constructed with a group at Caltech. Among the broader impacts, the technological development of phonon-mediated detectors has widespread applications in astronomy and physics. Operation and improvement of the BetaCage screener has broader impacts on other rare-event searches and even on the Si-chip industry. Its use for trace radioactive counting applications such as 14-C and tritium radioisotope dating has applications to other scientific fields, many with significant benefits to society. Furthermore, as part of the SuperCDMS collaboration, the group will develop and participate actively in the public outreach programs at the Soudan Mine, which hosts 60,000 visitors and tens of classes each year. Finally, the project will support the planning, development, and construction of a museum exhibit at Syracuse's Museum of Science and Technology that will introduce dark matter to the general public, increasing their understanding of modern science through their appreciation of the wonders of the Universe.