The DarkSide Dark Matter Search program with liquid Argon

by Dr Giuliana Fiorillo (University of Naples)

Tuesday 15 May 2018, 16:15 → 17:15 Europe/Berlin

MPI Meeting rooms

There is a great deal of evidence from astrophysical measurements, which support the existence of dark matter. Despite being a very active field of research, the nature of dark matter is still unknown, and there are a variety of popular theories. Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) remain an excellent candidate and could be detected through observation of nuclear recoils induced by WIMP collisions with a sensitive target. The DarkSide program has tailored two-phase argon time projection chamber technology for this purpose by choosing radio-pure structural and target materials, constructing neutron and muon vetoes, and utilizing efficient discrimination techniques to reject electron recoils. The DarkSide-50 detector is currently operating in the underground Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS). Results of the dark matter search performed with low radioactivity argon have been recently published. This search will be presented along with the physics potential for the future 20 ton detector, made possible by breakthroughs in Si photomultiplier technology and very low radioactivity levels of Ar-39 present in argon from underground sources among other advances.