RUI: Optimizing Directional Dark Matter d Detectors Using ASIC and FPGA-based r Readout Electronics

RUI：使用 ASIC 和基于 FPGA 的读出电子器件优化定向暗物质探测器

• 批准号: 1649966
• 负责人: James Battat
• 金额: $ 3.7万
• 依托单位: Wellesley College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-08-01 至 2018-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1649966&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Optimizing; Directional; Dark; Matter

Multiple astronomical observations have established that about 85% 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. Deciphering the nature of this so-called Dark Matter is of fundamental importance to cosmology, astrophysics, and high-energy particle physics. A leading hypothesis is that it is comprised of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, or WIMPs, that were produced moments after the Big Bang. If WIMPs are the dark matter, then their presence in our galaxy may be detectable via scattering from atomic nuclei in detectors located deep underground to help reject backgrounds due to cosmic rays. Direct detection of WIMP dark matter would solve a fundamental mystery and provide a unique window to learning about the primary matter constituent of the Universe and of physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Directional dark matter detectors have access to a smoking-gun signature of dark matter: the ability to study the angular distribution of recoils induced by WIMPs. At present, the sensitivity of directional detectors lags behind their non-directional counterparts. This award will provide funding for the research team to develop a directional detector technology capable of reconstructing WIMP-induced recoils with high precision, thus enhancing the sensitivity of direction-sensitive detectors.The detector under evaluation in this study is likely to be of wider benefit to society, with applications in the broader field of experimental particle physics (e.g. particle tracking at colliders and coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering). Such detectors also have applications in space-based X-ray polarimetry. Broader impacts of this work also include the training of a diverse set of female undergraduate students at Wellesley College. By integrating students at Wellesley in all aspects of this experimental particle physics program, the proposed work will broaden the participation of members of underrepresented groups in physics.In the past year, several unexpected, transformative discoveries were made in negative-ion time projection chambers (NITPCs), potentially affording a leap in directional sensitivity by two orders of magnitude per unit detector volume. Additionally, detector readouts from liquid-argon neutrino detectors are now known to work in NITPCs, making it feasible to instrument thousands of detector channels at low cost. With this award, this team will leverage these advances by building a prototype directional NITPC with high spatial resolution and low energy threshold to undertake a suite of fundamental measurements to quantitatively assess the prospects for this technology.

多次天文观测已经确定，宇宙中大约85%的物质不是由正常的原子组成的，而是由不发射或吸收光的未被探测到的基本“暗物质”粒子组成的。破译这种所谓的暗物质的本质对宇宙学、天体物理学和高能粒子物理学至关重要。一个主要的假设是，它是由大爆炸后瞬间产生的弱相互作用大质量粒子（wimp）组成的。如果wimp是暗物质，那么它们在我们星系中的存在可以通过位于地下深处的探测器的原子核散射来检测，以帮助排除宇宙射线造成的背景。直接探测WIMP暗物质将解开一个基本谜团，并提供一个独特的窗口，以了解宇宙的主要物质组成和粒子物理标准模型之外的物理。定向暗物质探测器可以获得暗物质的确凿证据：研究大质量弱相互作用粒子引起的反冲角分布的能力。目前，定向探测器的灵敏度落后于非定向探测器。该奖项将为研究团队提供资金，用于开发一种定向探测器技术，该技术能够高精度地重建wimp引起的反冲，从而提高方向敏感探测器的灵敏度。在这项研究中评估的探测器可能会对社会有更广泛的好处，在更广泛的实验粒子物理领域（例如在对撞机上的粒子跟踪和相干弹性中微子核散射）有更广泛的应用。这种探测器在天基x射线偏振测量中也有应用。这项工作的更广泛影响还包括在韦尔斯利学院培养各种各样的女本科生。通过将卫尔斯理的学生整合到这个实验粒子物理项目的各个方面，提议的工作将扩大未被充分代表的物理群体成员的参与。在过去的一年里，在负离子时间投影室（NITPCs）中取得了一些意想不到的、革命性的发现，每单位探测器体积的方向灵敏度可能会有两个数量级的飞跃。此外，现在已知液体氩中微子探测器的探测器读数可以在NITPCs中工作，这使得以低成本测量数千个探测器通道成为可能。有了这份合同，该团队将利用这些进步，建立一个具有高空间分辨率和低能量阈值的定向NITPC原型，进行一系列基本测量，以定量评估该技术的前景。