DMTPC: A dark matter detector with directional sensitivity

DMTPC: A dark matter detector with directional sensitivity

By correlating nuclear recoil directions with the Earth's direction of motion through the Galaxy, a directional dark matter detector can unambiguously detect Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), even in the presence of backgrounds. Here, we describe the Dark Matter Time-Projection Cham...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Battat, James, Ahlen, S., Caldwell, T., Dujmic, Denis, Dushkin, A., Fisher, Peter H., Golub, F., Goyal, S., Henderson, Shawn Wesley, Inglis, A., Lanza, Richard C., Lopez, Jeremy Paul, Kaboth, Asher Cunningham, Kohse, Gordon E., Monroe, Jocelyn, Sciolla, Gabriella, Skvorodnev, B. N., Tomita, H., Vanderspek, Roland K., Wellenstein, H., Yamamoto, Richard K.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: American Institute of Physics 2011
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/63602
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3226-787X
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4003-6089
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8667-5660
Description
Summary:By correlating nuclear recoil directions with the Earth's direction of motion through the Galaxy, a directional dark matter detector can unambiguously detect Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), even in the presence of backgrounds. Here, we describe the Dark Matter Time-Projection Chamber (DMTPC) detector, a TPC filled with CF4 gas at low pressure (0.1 atm). Using this detector, we have measured the vector direction (head-tail) of nuclear recoils down to energies of 100 keV with an angular resolution of <=15°. To study our detector backgrounds, we have operated in a basement laboratory on the MIT campus for several months. We are currently building a new, high-radiopurity detector for deployment underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant facility in New Mexico. ©2009 American Institute of Physics

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