Expanding the search for dark matter with xenon detectors

by Dr Scott Haselschwardt (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

Wednesday Apr 26, 2023, 10:30 AM → 11:30 AM Pacific/Honolulu

Room 417A (Watanabe Hall)

In the past two decades, substantial progress in dark matter direct detection experimental sensitivity has been made, most notably by experiments utilizing the liquid xenon (LXe) time projection chamber (TPC) technology. These detectors are at the forefront of dark matter searches because of their inherently scalable design. Innovative instrumentation and analyses can improve these detectors further and advance their dark matter physics reach. Here I will discuss several opportunities to expand the reach of the current and next generation of LXe TPCs with both novel hardware upgrades and analyses. Together these concepts span a number of particle-astrophysics topics including: new avenues for solar (including CNO) neutrino detection, searches for light (< 5 GeV/c²) dark matter candidates through the addition of light target elements in LXe, and novel schemes for low-threshold charge readout. Thus I hope to motivate the description of LXe detectors as “xenon observatories” for a multitude of physics studies and searches.

 

Video - Dr. H. Haselschwardt