Reduction of Backgrounds for WIMP Dark Matter

减少 WIMP 暗物质的背景

• 批准号: 1546843
• 负责人: Richard Schnee
• 金额: $ 18.63万
• 依托单位: South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-15 至 2017-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1546843&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Reduction; Backgrounds; WIMP; Dark; Matter

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 don't emit or absorb light. Remarkably, particle physics theories proposed for other reasons 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.This award will provide funding for this Syracuse group to collaborate on the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (now SuperCDMS) that has a track record as one of the world's most sensitive. The PI will lead his group to achieve better rejection of surface interactions and identify neutrons that multiply scatter within a detector, aided by detailed simulations of the detector response. The group will help develop and construct a detector to veto events caused by neutrons and measure the expected neutron background in SuperCDMS. The group will take part in SuperCDMS detector testing, including making key contributions to a unique deep facility, demonstrating the rejection capabilities of new detectors and providing critical feedback for detector fabrication and development. The long-term activities include additional cryogenic detector research, focusing on technologies that allow easier manufacturing and the possibility of a single cost-effective experiment to detect both dark matter and neutrinoless double-beta decay.Broader Impacts: Technological development of phonon-mediated detectors has widespread applications in astronomy and physics. The project will help train undergraduates, graduates, and postdocs in a multidisciplinary field using techniques at the leading edge of measurement technologies with applications in areas of societal interest.

观测表明，宇宙中80%的物质不是由正常原子组成的，而是不会发射或吸收光线的、未被探测到的基本“暗物质”粒子。值得注意的是，出于其他原因提出的粒子物理理论预测，存在具有合适性质的弱相互作用大质量粒子(WIMP)，正是这种暗物质。如果WIMP是暗物质，那么当它们散布在地球上的探测器中时，它们可能会被探测到。这个奖项将为锡拉丘兹的这个团队合作进行低温暗物质搜索(现在的SuperCDMS)提供资金，该项目的记录是世界上最敏感的之一。PI将带领他的团队实现更好地拒绝表面相互作用，并在探测器响应的详细模拟的帮助下，识别在探测器内倍增散射的中子。该小组将帮助开发和建造一个探测器，以否决由中子引起的事件，并测量超级CDMS中预期的中子本底。该小组将参与SuperCDMS探测器测试，包括对独特的深层设施做出关键贡献，展示新探测器的抑制能力，并为探测器制造和开发提供关键反馈。长期的活动包括更多的低温探测器研究，重点是使制造更容易的技术，以及单个成本效益高的实验同时探测暗物质和无中微子双β衰变的可能性。更广泛的影响：声子中介探测器的技术开发在天文学和物理学中有广泛的应用。该项目将帮助培训本科生、研究生和博士后，在多学科领域使用测量技术的前沿技术，并将其应用于社会感兴趣的领域。