Collaborative Proposal: Continuation of th XENON Dark Matter Project: Construction and Underground Operation of an Upgraded XENON100 Detector

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该项目通过使用两相氙探测器对弱相互作用大质量粒子（wimp）进行实验搜索，解决了宇宙中暗物质本质的问题。该小组目前正在进行100公斤质量规模的XENON100实验，该实验已经取代了在格兰萨索地下实验室相同屏蔽和位置的XENON10原型。基于贵重液体的探测器的快速发展极大地加速了世界范围内直接探测暗物质的竞赛。他们已经将目标质量的尺度从几公斤转移到几十公斤，同时将整个伽马/ β背景降低到小于0.001事件/kg/keV/天，远低于闪烁体和低温测热仪探测器。尽管XENON10只是一个原型，但它已经展示了两相氙探测器用于暗物质搜索的潜力，将XENON项目带到了该领域的前沿。该合同将为XENON项目再提供2年的资金，以在2009年用目前的XENON100探测器完成暗物质搜索，并在2010年初在相同的屏蔽层和位置实现升级的探测器。此外，XENON100具有解决DAMA/LIBRA年度调制特征相关问题的强大可能性，为这一有争议的结果提供了新的思路。XENON科学计划的广泛影响解决了有关宇宙基本属性的问题，并具有吸引学生和公众的兴趣和想象力的所有成分。与技术相关的工作可以在许多方面影响社会：液态氙成像探测器和相关技术在粒子天体物理学以外的几个领域得到应用，包括国家安全和医学成像研究。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This project addresses the question of the nature of dark matter in the Universe with an experimental search for Weakly Interactive Massive Particles (WIMPs) using two-phase xenon detectors. This group is currently operating at the 100 kg mass scale with the XENON100 experiment which has replaced the XENON10 prototype in the same shield and location at the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory. The worldwide race towards direct dark matter detection has been dramatically accelerated by the fast evolution of detectors based on noble liquids. They have shifted the scale of target mass from a few to tens of kilograms, while reducing the overall gamma/beta background to less than 0.001 events/kg/keV/day, much lower than scintillator and cryogenic bolometer detectors. Despite being only a prototype, XENON10 has shown the potential of two-phase Xe detectors for dark matter searches, bringing the XENON program to the forefront of the field. This award will provide funds to continue the XENON program for 2 more years to complete the dark matter search with the current XENON100 detector within 2009, and to realize an upgraded detector by early 2010 in the same shield and location. Additionally, XENON100 has a robust possibility to address questions related to the DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation signature, shedding new light on this controversial result. The broader impact of the XENON science program addresses questions about the fundamental properties of the Universe and has all the ingredients to captivate the interest and imagination of students and the general public alike. Technical-related work can impact society in a number of ways: liquid xenon imaging detectors and related technologies find applications in several fields outside particle astrophysics, including national security and medical imaging research.