Search for Dark Matter with XENON100

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

There is ample evidence that large amounts of matter in the Universe are made from an unknown kind, called Dark Matter. Yet, its properties are largely unknown and pose a major challenge for contemporary physics. The XENON100 collaboration, working at the underground laboratory at Gran Sasso, Italy, runs the currently most sensitive experiment to search for Dark Matter. Together with the large volume and mass of the detector, the low background enables studies of the nature of Dark Matter that are not possible with any other operating detector. This award provides base support to work on the unique opportunities that data from the XENON100 detector provide to search for signatures that are expected from unconventional models of Dark Matter particles. The data will be studied in original analyses to gain new insights into the nature of Dark Matter. Two different and dedicated searches will be performed for Dark Matter particles with low masses. Innovative searches for signals that are predicted by models such as inelastic Dark Matter or magnetic inelastic Dark Matter will be carried out. Broader impacts: the PI will continue to build on previous experience from his involvement in a planetarium and other outreach activities in order to stimulate the imagination and curiosity of the public. Newspaper articles and other channels of diverse popular science communication will be utilized to disseminate results from the research. Undergraduate and graduate students as well as a postdoctoral researcher will be educated and trained in research at the cutting edge of modern astroparticle physics.