Construction of the COUPP-500kg Bubble Chamber for Dark Matter Detection

COUPP（芝加哥地下粒子物理观测站）使用室温气泡室来寻找暗物质粒子候选者。继2011年在加拿大萨德伯里的SNOLAB地下深度连续运行一个装有4公斤三氟甲基碘（CF_3I）的室后，COUPP目前对任何暗物质搜索中自旋相关的WIMP（弱相互作用大质量粒子）-核耦合提供了最佳灵敏度。最近，在对α粒子的声学鉴别和背景消除方面取得了巨大的进展。随着这些新的发展，COUPP也应该在自旋独立耦合的灵敏度领域领先，在SNOLAB安装了一个已经投入使用的60 kg室之后，这项技术达到的成熟水平促使这项合作开始了500 kg模块的概念设计。 详细的蒙特卡罗模拟表明，该室将有能力进行详尽的探索巨大的超对称WIMP参数空间。该设计将基于已为60 kg室开发和测试的系统的适度外推。 该奖项为完成COUPP-500的设计和开发提供支持。更广泛的影响：所述努力将在教育和辅导领域产生更广泛的影响。COUPP有着悠久的历史，致力于通过UC，IUSB和FNAL计划为本科生提供实验室研究机会，并指导和促进研究生和博士后。

COUPP (The Chicagoland Observatory for Underground Particle Physics) employs room temperature bubble chambers to search for dark matter particle candidates. Following continuous 2011 operation of a chamber containing 4 kg of trifluoromethyl iodide (CF_3I) at the underground depth of SNOLAB at Sudbury, Canada, COUPP presently offers the best sensitivity to spin-dependent WIMP (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles)-nucleus couplings from any dark matter search. Dramatic progress in acoustic discrimination against alpha particles and the abatement of backgrounds has recently been made. With these new developments, COUPP should also lead the field in sensitivity to spin-independent couplings, following the installation of an already-commissioned 60 kg chamber at SNOLAB.The level of maturity reached by this technique has prompted this collaboration to initiate the conceptual design of a 500 kg module. Detailed Monte Carlo simulations indicate that this chamber will have the ability to perform an exhaustive exploration of the vast supersymmetric WIMP parameter space. The design is to be based on a modest extrapolation of the systems already developed and tested for the 60 kg chamber. This award provides support to complete the design and development of COUPP-500. Broader Impacts: The effort described will generate substantial broader impacts in the areas of education and mentoring. COUPP has a long history of commitment to providing undergraduates with laboratory research opportunities, through UC, IUSB and FNAL programs, and to the mentoring and promotion of graduate students and postdocs.