Dark matter searches with the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment

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The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment is a next-generation direct detection dark matter (DM) experiment that will become operational in 2020. The aim of this project is to search for interactions of DM particles with Xenon nuclei that lead to scintillation and ionization signals. In order to distinguish these from background processes an accurate simulation of the experiment and the generated signals is required. This project aims at first improving the optical simulation, i.e., the simulation of millions of photons that are produced as a results of a DM - Xenon nucleus interaction, how they propagate through the detector and how they are recorded by large arrays of photomultipliers. This will pave the way for analysing the data collected by LZ to search for signals of dark matter interactions, where focus will be placed on searching for high nuclear recoil signals that would result from recently proposed novel DM interaction models.