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

该奖项支持科罗拉多州立大学的约书亚·伯杰教授的研究活动。我们在宇宙中观察到的大部分物质都是暗的，到目前为止只能通过它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首要目标之一。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，即使不是专门为寻找暗物质而建立的实验，也可以在寻找这些难以捉摸的粒子方面做出重要贡献。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效应。因此，研究暗物质的性质有助于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，从而有助于国家利益。该项目还将产生重大的更广泛的影响。伯杰教授计划培训学生和博士后科学家先进的物理研究方法，以及最先进的计算技术。他还将在公开和科学报告中展示他的研究结果，并将他的研究的各个方面纳入他教授的课程的课程中。用技术术语来说，这项研究包括在当前和未来的中微子和原子、分子和光学(AMO)物理实验中搜索暗扇区粒子。这项研究还包括研究交替的宇宙史，以开发重生的新机制。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)实验和地下深处中微子实验(DUNE)，将能够探测到非常强的质子束与目标碰撞时产生的暗物质和长寿命暗状态。大体积实验，如沙丘远处探测器，也可能对探测器中相互作用的天体物理暗物质敏感。伯杰教授将探索隐藏的扇区模型，如希格斯门户模型，在这些实验中，希格斯门户模型会导致光束中产生暗扇区粒子。他将进一步探索暗物质模型，如助推暗物质和宏观暗物质，这些暗物质导致来自天体物理来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模拟工具，并提出新的搜索策略，以确保有趣的信号不会被遗漏。他的工作还将包括与AMO实验者、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高精度原子测量中寻找暗物质。最后，他将研究早期宇宙中弱力变得强烈耦合的可能阶段的性质，从而产生一种新的重力学机制的可能性。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.