Dark matter searches with the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment

LUX-ZEPLIN(LZ)实验是下一代直接探测暗物质(DM)实验，将于2020年投入使用。这个项目的目的是寻找DM粒子与氙核的相互作用，从而导致闪烁和电离信号。为了将这些过程与背景过程区分开来，需要对实验和生成的信号进行准确的模拟。该项目旨在首先改进光学模拟，即模拟DM-Xenon核相互作用产生的数百万个光子，它们如何通过探测器传播，以及它们如何被大型光电倍增管阵列记录。这将为分析LZ收集的数据以寻找暗物质相互作用的信号铺平道路，其中重点将放在寻找由最近提出的新的DM相互作用模型产生的高核反冲信号上。

The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment is a next-generation direct detection dark matter (DM) experiment that will become operational in 2020. The aim of this project is to search for interactions of DM particles with Xenon nuclei that lead to scintillation and ionization signals. In order to distinguish these from background processes an accurate simulation of the experiment and the generated signals is required. This project aims at first improving the optical simulation, i.e., the simulation of millions of photons that are produced as a results of a DM - Xenon nucleus interaction, how they propagate through the detector and how they are recorded by large arrays of photomultipliers. This will pave the way for analysing the data collected by LZ to search for signals of dark matter interactions, where focus will be placed on searching for high nuclear recoil signals that would result from recently proposed novel DM interaction models.