Particle Astrophysics with Neutrinos and Weakly Interacting Dark Matter: Borexino and DarkSide

中微子和弱相互作用暗物质的粒子天体物理学：Borexino 和 DarkSide

• 批准号: 1211308
• 负责人: Andrea Pocar
• 金额: $ 57.6万
• 依托单位: University of Massachusetts Amherst
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-08-01 至 2016-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1211308&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Particle; Astrophysics; Neutrinos; Weakly; Interacting

This award provides base support for the particle astrophysics program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst to participate in the Borexino solar neutrino experiment and the DarkSide project for the search of weakly interacting particle dark matter (WIMPs) in our galaxy. Solar neutrinos have played a crucial role in the experimental confirmation that neutrinos have mass and oscillate. Since data acquisition started in 2007, Borexino has reached its design goal and measured the flux of mono-energetic 7-Beryllium solar neutrinos with enough precision to test the predictions of current solar models. After a scintillator purification campaign in 2011, Borexino is in a new phase of solar neutrino physics with the goal of measuring the entire solar neutrino spectrum. A precise knowledge of solar neutrinos will allow us to understand how the sun and other stars work, test the MSW-LMA neutrino oscillation paradigm and search for deviations from it. Borexino will possibly resolve an open question on the metallicity of the Sun's core, an important piece of information with which to study the evolution of larger stars in the universe. DarkSide-50, a dual-phase time projection chamber scheduled to come online in late 2012, will prototype design solutions for background free multi-tonne detectors with liquid argon as active target for WIMPs. A null observation would exclude some of the current leading dark matter candidates. A positive detection would begin to give answers to one of the big scientific unknowns of our times. DarkSide-50 will run with 50 kg of argon depleted more than 100-fold in the radioactive 39-Argon isotope. The DarkSide-50 Argon cryostat is surrounded by a compact, liquid scintillator neutron detector and immersed in the Borexino Counting Test Facility (CTF) water tank instrumented and operated as a Cherenkov muon veto. The Borexino and DarkSide collaborations have a significant overlap in personnel and technical and operational resources. Broader Impacts: The Borexino and DarkSide projects provide excellent opportunities for the training of graduate and undergraduate students in applications of software and hardware development, and fundamental physics. The techniques developed for Borexino and Darkside-50 can more broadly benefit technology relevant for medical imaging, nuclear non-proliferation and geology.

该奖项为马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校的粒子天体物理项目提供基础支持，以参与 Borexino 太阳中微子实验和在银河系中寻找弱相互作用粒子暗物质 (WIMP) 的 DarkSide 项目。太阳中微子在实验证实中微子具有质量和振荡方面发挥了至关重要的作用。自 2007 年开始数据采集以来，Borexino 已经达到了其设计目标，并以足够的精度测量了单能 7 铍太阳中微子的通量，以测试当前太阳模型的预测。在 2011 年的闪烁体净化活动之后，Borexino 进入了太阳中微子物理学的新阶段，其目标是测量整个太阳中微子光谱。对太阳中微子的精确了解将使我们能够了解太阳和其他恒星的工作原理，测试 MSW-LMA 中微子振荡范式并寻找与它的偏差。 Borexino可能会解决有关太阳核心金属丰度的一个悬而未决的问题，这是研究宇宙中较大恒星演化的重要信息。 DarkSide-50 是一个双相时间投影室，计划于 2012 年末上线，它将为​​无背景的多吨探测器设计解决方案原型，以液氩作为 WIMP 的主动目标。零观测将排除一些当前主要的暗物质候选者。一项积极的发现将开始为我们这个时代的重大科学未知数之一提供答案。 DarkSide-50 将使用 50 公斤的氩气运行，其中放射性 39-氩同位素的消耗量是其 100 倍以上。 DarkSide-50 氩低温恒温器被紧凑的液体闪烁体中子探测器包围，并浸入 Borexino 计数测试设施 (CTF) 水箱中，该水箱作为切伦科夫 μ 子否决仪进行仪表和操作。 Borexino 和 DarkSide 的合作在人员、技术和运营资源方面有很大的重叠。更广泛的影响：Borexino 和 DarkSide 项目为研究生和本科生在软件和硬件开发以及基础物理应用方面的培训提供了绝佳的机会。为 Borexino 和 Darkside-50 开发的技术可以更广泛地惠及与医学成像、核不扩散和地质学相关的技术。