CDMS II: A Search for Cold Dark Matter with Cryogenic Detectors at the Soudan Mine

[摘要]在过去的十年中，已经收集了大量的额外证据来支持这样的假设，即宇宙中至少90%的质量是黑暗的：它不发射或吸收任何形式的电磁辐射。了解暗物质已经成为天文学和宇宙学的核心问题之一。大量的观测表明，暗物质的主要形式是非重子的，大概是以早期宇宙中产生的基本粒子的形式存在的。弱相互作用大质量粒子形成了一个特别有趣的候选类，因为在宇宙学和粒子物理学之间似乎有一个收敛。在地面探测器上直接观测wimp的相互作用对粒子物理学和宇宙学具有极大的重要性。观察到的弱相互作用大质量粒子将是反映强和电弱相互作用标准模型之外的物理的粒子，这些弱相互作用大质量粒子的识别将解决暗物质的核心问题，并帮助我们理解早期宇宙的演化和结构的形成。由于美国国家科学基金会（通过粒子天体物理中心）和美国能源部资助的长期发展努力，传感器技术的存在为这种类型的搜索提供了一大步，为积极的结果提供了最好的改变。同时测量由WIMP相互作用产生的声子和电离提供了对放射性背景的强大辨别，这项技术现在正在斯坦福大学的低温暗物质搜索实验（CDMS I）中使用。该奖项由天文科学部、物理部和多学科活动办公室联合支持，将支持在明尼苏达州北部苏丹矿井深部建设和运行第二代实验（CDMS II）。

AbstractAST 9978911In the last decade considerable additional evidence has been gathered supporting the hypothesis that at least 90% of the mass in the universe is dark: it does not emit or absorb any form of electromagnetic radiation. Understanding this dark matter has become one of the more central problems in astronomy and cosmology. A number of observations indicate that the predominant form of the dark matter is nonbaryonic, presumably in the form of elementary particles produced in the early universe. Weakly Interactive Massive Particles form a particularly interesting generic class of candidates as there appears to be a convergence between cosmology and particle physics. The direct observation of the interaction of WIMPs in a terrestrial detector would be of tremendous importance to particle physics and cosmology. The observed WIMPs would be particles that reflect physics beyond the Standard Model of strong and electroweak interactions, and the identification of these WIMPs would solve the central problem of dark matter and help us understand the evolution of the early universe and the formation of structure.Because of a long development effort funded both by the National Science Foundation (through the Center for Particle Astrophysics) and the Department Of Energy, the sensor technology exists to provide a great step forward in this type of search, giving the best change for a positive result. The simultaneous measurement of the phonons and the ionization produced by the WIMP interactions provides a powerful discrimination against radioactive background, and this technique is now being utilized at Stanford, in the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search Experiment (CDMS I).This award, which is being supportred jointly by the Division of Astronomical Sciences, the Division of Physics, and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities, will support construction and operation of a second generation experiment (CDMS II) at a deep site in the Soudan mine in northern Minnesota.