New Approaches to Modeling and Searching for Physics Beyond the Standard Model: Boosted Dark Matter, Macroscopic Dark Matter, Dark Sectors, and Exotic Phases

该奖项支持州立大学科罗拉多约书亚伯杰教授的研究活动。我们在宇宙中观测到的大部分物质都是黑暗的，迄今为止只能通过其对可见粒子的引力才能看到。探测和确定暗物质的性质是未来几年粒子物理学的最高优先目标之一。 虽然已经建立了专门的实验来寻找一些暗物质候选者，但最近的努力表明，即使没有明确建立寻找暗物质的实验也可以为寻找这些难以捉摸的粒子做出重要贡献。 伯杰教授的大部分研究旨在开发暗物质的模型和预测，这些模型和预测可以在旨在研究中微子和原子等其他现象的实验中看到，从而与物理学的其他领域产生有价值的协同作用。 因此，对暗物质性质的研究通过促进在回答有关宇宙性质及其基本组成部分的基本科学问题方面取得进展，有助于国家利益。 该项目还将产生广泛的影响。伯杰教授计划培养学生和博士后科学家在先进的物理研究方法，以及在国家的最先进的计算技术。他还将在公开和科学演讲中展示他的研究成果，并将他的研究内容纳入他所教授的课程的课程中。从技术角度来说，这项研究包括在当前和未来的中微子以及原子中寻找暗区粒子、分子和光学（AMO）物理实验。 这项研究还包括研究交替的宇宙学历史，以开发新的重子生成机制。正在进行和即将进行的中微子实验，如基于加速器的短基线中微子（SBN）实验和深地下中微子实验（DUNE），将能够探测暗物质和在其非常强烈的质子束与目标碰撞中产生的长寿命暗态。大体积的实验，如DUNE远探测器，也可以对探测器中的天体物理暗物质相互作用敏感。伯杰教授将探索隐藏的部门模型，如希格斯门户模型导致暗扇区粒子在这些实验中产生的光束。他将进一步探索暗物质模型，如增强暗物质和宏观暗物质，这些模型导致来自天体物理源的暗物质在中微子探测器中相互作用。他将开发研究这些模型所需的新仿真工具，并提出新的搜索策略，以确保不会错过有趣的信号。他的工作还将包括与AMO实验学家、科罗拉多州立大学的塞缪尔·布鲁尔教授合作，在布鲁尔教授的实验室进行的高精度原子测量中寻找暗物质。 最后，他将研究早期宇宙的一个可能阶段的性质，在这个阶段中，弱力变得强耦合，从而导致重子生成的新机制的可能性。该奖项反映了NSF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。

This award supports the research activities of Professor Joshua Berger at Colorado State University.The bulk of matter we have observed in the Universe is dark and has so far only been seen by its gravitational pull on visible particles. Detecting and determining the nature of dark matter are among the highest priority goals of particle physics in the coming years. While dedicated experiments have been built to look for some dark matter candidates, recent efforts have demonstrated that even experiments not expressly built to look for dark matter can make important contributions to the hunt for these elusive particles. The bulk of Professor Berger’s research aims to develop models and predictions of dark matter that can be seen at experiments designed to study other phenomena such as neutrinos and atoms, creating valuable synergy with other areas of physics. Research into the nature of dark matter thus contributes to the national interest by promoting progress in answering fundamental scientific questions as to the nature of the universe and its basic building blocks. This project will also have significant broader impacts. Professor Berger plans to train students and post-doctoral scientists in advanced physics research methods, as well as in state-of-the-art computing techniques. He will also present the results of his research in both public and scientific presentations, and incorporate aspects of his research in the curricula for courses he teaches.In technical terms, this research encompasses searches for dark sector particles at current and future neutrino and atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics experiments. This research also involves studying alternate cosmological histories to develop new mechanisms for baryogenesis. Ongoing and upcoming neutrino experiments such as the accelerator-based Short Baseline Neutrino (SBN) experiments and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will be able to detect dark matter and long-lived dark states produced in collisions of their very intense proton beams with a target. Large volume experiments such as the DUNE far detector can also be sensitive to astrophysical dark matter interacting in the detector. Professor Berger will explore hidden sector models such as Higgs Portal models leading to dark sector particles produced in the beams at these experiments. He will further explore dark matter models such as boosted dark matter and macroscopic dark matter which lead to dark matter from astrophysical sources interacting in neutrino detectors. He will develop new simulation tools needed to investigate these models and propose new search strategies to ensure that interesting signals are not missed. His work will also encompass a collaboration with an AMO experimentalist, Professor Samuel Brewer at Colorado State University, to develop searches for dark matter in high-precision atomic measurements performed in Professor Brewer’s lab. Finally, he will study the properties of a possible phase of the early universe in which the weak force becomes strongly coupled, leading to the possibility of a new mechanism for baryogenesis.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.