CAREER: Increasing the Dark Matter Science Reach of the SuperCDMS Experiment

暗物质的性质是当今物理学中最重要的研究课题之一。它涉及粒子物理学、天体物理学和宇宙学中尚未解答的基本问题。这一奖项将使我们能够探索一个非常有趣的理论相空间的新区域，为可行的弱相互作用大质量粒子(WIMP)候选者寻找暗物质，以提高我们对它的理解：它是什么，它在哪里，它是如何与标准模型粒子相互作用的，以及它在宇宙的演化和命运中扮演什么角色。研究目标是测量暗物质信号，或者为60GeV WIMP质量的WIMP-核子截面设定一个极限。这将通过作为冷暗物质搜索(CDMS)合作成员的PI的工作来实现。方法是提高其现有探测器的效率和降低较低的能量阈值，使实验的科学覆盖范围增加2倍，并为下一阶段的SuperCDMS实现新的更高性能、更大体积的探测器。该项目的更广泛影响包括增加了申请物理学和天文学研究生课程的少数族裔申请者人数。方法是通过麻省理工学院的暑期项目增加这些学生在研究方面的机会。PI将与HBCU和HSI合作，带着有才华的学生参加一个夏天的研究、期刊俱乐部演讲、与麻省理工学院少数族裔研究生的网络交流，以及与波士顿社区的当地高中的接触。高分辨率低温探测器的物理研究和新的分析技术在其他领域也有应用，如天体物理、核物理和固体物理。

The nature of dark matter is one of the most important research topics in physics today. It pertains to fundamental unanswered questions in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. This award will enable a probe of a very interesting new region of theoretical phase space for viable Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) candidates in the search for dark matter in order to improve our understanding of it: what it is, where it is, how it interacts with Standard Model particles, and what its role is in the evolution and fate of the universe. The research objective is to either measure a dark matter signal or set a limit on the WIMP-nucleon cross-section for a 60 GeV WIMP mass. This will be reached through the PI's work as a member of the Cold Dark Matter Search (CDMS) collaboration. The approach is to improve the efficiency and to reduce the lower energy threshold of their current detectors to obtain a factor of 2 increase in the science reach of the experiment, and to implement new higher-performance, more massive detectors for the next phase of SuperCDMS. The Broader Impacts of this project include increasing the pool of under-represented minority applicants to graduate programs in physics and astronomy. The approach is to increase the exposure of these students to opportunities in research through a summer program at MIT. The PI will work with HBCUs and HSIs to bring talented students for a summer of research, journal club presentations, networking with MIT minority graduate students, and outreach to local high schools in the Boston community. Research in the physics of high-resolution low-temperature detectors and new analysis techniques have applications in other fields such as astrophysics, nuclear physics, and solid-state physics.