Thursday, December 07, 2023, 16:00
WHGA Auditorium
Patrick Decowski, NIKHEF
Abstract:
There is strong cosmological and astrophysical evidence that more than
85% of the matter in the Universe is composed of non-luminous
—dark— matter, which is fundamentally different from
ordinary matter. Many candidate dark matter particles exist, usually
arising in extensions to the Standard Model. One method to detect
galactic dark matter is to measure the nuclear recoils produced in their
rare elastic collisions with ordinary matter. The predicted interaction
rates are extraordinarily low: less than one event-per-ton-per-yr and
require very sensitive detectors made of ultra-low radioactivity
materials. Experiments based on liquid xenon, with a combination of a
large target mass and excellent background rejection, meet this
sensitivity goal. I will introduce the dark matter problem and explore
dark matter candidates and their detection methods. I will then discuss
the latest results from one of the world's most sensitive dark matter
detectors, the XENONnT experiment employing 8.5 tons of liquid xenon. I
will conclude describing our plans for the "ultimate" dark matter
experiment, the 60 ton DARWIN/XLZD detector.