Dark Matter and Neutrino Physics with Cryogenic Detectors

多项天文观测证实，宇宙中约85%的物质不是由已知粒子组成的。破译这种所谓的暗物质的本质对宇宙学、天体物理学和高能粒子物理学具有根本的重要性。一个主要的假设是，它是由相互作用很弱的大质量粒子组成的，这些粒子是在大爆炸后不久产生的。如果WIMP是暗物质，那么它们在我们银河系中的存在可能是通过位于深处的探测器中原子核的散射来检测到的，以帮助排除由于宇宙射线造成的背景。低温暗物质搜索(CDMS)合作开创了使用低温声子介导的探测器来探测WIMP在原子核上罕见的散射并将它们与背景区分开来的先河。这项工作将产生超越暗物质搜索的广泛影响。这些技术发展将进一步推动声子中介探测器的发展，这种探测器已经在科学技术中得到了许多应用。这一奖项将为三项活动提供资金：--超级CDMS Soudan实验目前正在获取对5千兆电子伏特(GeV)以下质量的暗物质具有世界领先灵敏度的数据。这项实验明年将继续收集数据，对数据的全套不同分析将在未来两年进行。麻省理工学院在低门槛分析中发挥了领导作用，并将继续这样做。--在下一代实验的设计、原型、测试和调试中发挥核心作用。-开发和制作新的低阈值、低本底探测器原型，其灵敏度足以覆盖从1-10GeV到太阳中微子不可约背景的所有可用暗物质参数空间。该奖项将有助于本科生、研究生和博士后研究人员的培训，通过参与麻省理工学院夏季研究计划，继续该小组在指导来自不具代表性群体的本科生方面的强大参与。

Multiple astronomical observations have established that about 85% of the matter in the universe is not made of known particles. Deciphering the nature of this so-called Dark Matter is of fundamental importance to cosmology, astrophysics, and high-energy particle physics. A leading hypothesis is that it is comprised of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, or WIMPs, that were produced moments after the Big Bang. If WIMPs are the dark matter, then their presence in our galaxy may be detectable via scattering from atomic nuclei in detectors located deep underground to help reject backgrounds due to cosmic rays.The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) Collaboration has pioneered the use of low temperature phonon-mediated detectors to detect the rare scattering of WIMPs on nuclei and distinguish them from backgrounds. This work will have a broad impact which extends beyond the dark matter search. The technical developments will further advance phonon-mediated detectors, which have already found many applications in science and technology.This award will provide funds for three activities:-- The SuperCDMS Soudan experiment is currently taking data which will have world-leading sensitivity to dark matter for masses below 5 gigaelectronvolt (GeV). The experiment will continue taking data next year, and the full set of different analyses of the data will take place over the next two years. MIT has taken a leadership role in the low-threshold analysis, and will continue to do so. -- Play a central role in the design, prototyping, testing, and commissioning of the next-generation experiment. -- Develop and prototype new low-threshold, low-background detectors with enough sensitivity to cover all the available dark matter parameter space for masses between 1-10 GeV down to the irreducible background from solar neutrinos.This award will contribute to the training of undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, continuing the group's strong involvement in mentoring undergraduates from underrepresented groups by participating in the MIT Summer Research Program.