Collaborative Research: The DAMIC-M Detector to Search for Light Dark Matter

有强有力的宇宙学和天体物理学证据表明冷暗物质是宇宙的主要组成部分。一个令人信服的解释是迄今为止未知的弱相互作用大质量粒子（wimp）的存在，世界范围内正在进行的实验努力正在验证这一假设。迄今为止，暗物质（DM）的性质难以捉摸，构成了科学中最基本的问题之一。它作为一种未知粒子的发现将对我们对宇宙的理解产生深远的影响，并为粒子物理学和宇宙学开辟新的方向。该项目的重点是DAMIC-M （ccd中的暗物质）实验，该实验将通过探测电荷耦合器件（ccd）中的轻DM诱导的核反冲和电子来寻找重WIMP范例之外的东西。这一重达一公斤的探测器将由国际合作机构安装在法国Souterrain de Modane实验室。该合同为美国建造DAMIC-M探测器提供了支持。身临其境的研究体验、当地社区的参与和创新的伙伴关系将把DM科学带给正式和非正式的受众。与关注代表性不足群体的项目合作开发的研究经验——例如，芝加哥大学和菲斯克-范德比尔特桥，华盛顿大学的社区学院转学项目——将增强研究生和本科生水平的多样性。当地社区将广泛参与芝加哥的活动，将芝加哥大学的高中学生纳入空间探索者计划和STEM科学探究与研究计划，在一个刺激的研究环境中，通过加强芝加哥大学中学生的RISE计划，并通过终身学习计划向老年人传播科学；通过“科学伙伴”项目，让华盛顿大学的科学学校教师参与研究。通过与阿德勒天文馆的合作，DM科学将接触到广泛而多样化的受众，特别是具有高影响力（每年50,000名游客）的阿德勒天文学对话计划，科学家可以直接与博物馆游客互动。ccd通常用于天文望远镜的数字成像，在这种新颖和非常规的使用中，电离电荷将在有史以来最大规模的具有精美空间分辨率的ccd中被检测到。这些设备的关键创新是对像素电荷的非破坏性重复测量，从而实现对单个电子的高分辨率检测和对光DM的前所未有的灵敏度（~ eV能量足以释放硅中的电子）。通过在一个极低漏电流的探测器中计算单个电荷——这是任何其他DM实验都无法比拟的组合——DAMIC-M将在探索隐藏区域的过程中实现几个数量级的飞跃，这种飞跃可能会得到偶然发现的回报。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

There is strong cosmological and astrophysical evidence for cold dark matter as a major constituent of the universe. A compelling explanation is the existence of hitherto unknown Weakly-Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), and a world-wide experimental effort is on-going to test this hypothesis. The nature of Dark Matter (DM), so far elusive, constitutes one of the most fundamental questions in science. Its discovery as a yet unknown particle would have profound implications in our understanding of the universe, and open new directions in particle physics and cosmology. This project focuses on the DAMIC-M (Dark Matter In CCDs) experiment, which will search beyond the heavy WIMP paradigm by detecting nuclear recoils and electrons induced by light DM in charge-coupled devices (CCDs). The one-kg detector will be installed at the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane, France by an international collaboration. This award provides US support for the construction of the DAMIC-M detector.Immersive research experiences, engagement of the local community and innovative partnerships will bring DM science to formal and informal audiences. Research experiences developed in collaboration with programs focused on underrepresented groups - e.g., U. Chicago and Fisk-Vanderbilt Bridge, the Community College Transfer Program at U. Washington - will enhance diversity at the graduate and undergraduate levels. The local community will be broadly engaged in Chicago by integrating high school URM students of the Space Explorers Program and of the STEM Science Inquiry and Research program in a stimulating research environment, by enhancing the RISE program for URM middle-school students and by communicating science to older adults via the Life-long Learning program; in the Pacific Northwest by engaging science school teachers in research at U. Washington through the Partners in Science program. DM science will reach broad and diverse audiences through partnerships with the Adler Planetarium, in particular with the high-impact (50,000 visitors/yr) Adler Astronomy Conversations program, where scientists interact directly with museum visitors.In this novel and unconventional use of CCDs, which are commonly employed for digital imaging in astronomical telescopes, the ionization charge will be detected in the most massive CCDs ever built with exquisite spatial resolution. The crucial innovation in these devices is the non-destructive, repetitive measurement of the pixel charge, which results in the high-resolution detection of a single electron and unprecedented sensitivity to light DM (~ eV energies are enough to free an electron in silicon). By counting individual charges in a detector with extremely low leakage current - a combination unmatched by any other DM experiment - DAMIC-M will take a leap forward of several orders of magnitude in the exploration of the hidden sector, a jump that may be rewarded by serendipitous discovery.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.