Detecting the invisible universe with neutrinos and dark matter
Name
824947902-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
12.37 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
73d671a9d63e3eff14b24f10d44b4acc
Author(s)
Kaboth, Asher C. (Asher Cunningham)
Advisor(s)
Peter Fisher and Joseph Formaggio.
Date Issued
2012
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Recent work in astrophysics has show that most of the matter in the universe is non-luminous. This work investigates two searches for non-luminous matter: hot dark matter formed from cosmic relic neutrinos from the Big Bang, and directional detection of cold dark matter. The cosmic neutrino background is investigated through the KATRIN experiment, using neutrino capture on tritium to search for a signal. A sensitivity at KATRIN of about 10⁴ events per year, or a local overdensity of relic neutrinos of about 3 x 10⁹ is found. Directional detection of cold dark matter provides a unique way to distinguish a dark matter signal from terrestrial backgrounds, using the expected direction of a dark matter wind based on astrophysical parameters. This work presents a new technique for directional dark matter detection--a drift chamber readout using a CCD camera. The backgrounds of this detector are investigated and enumerated, and a dark matter search sets a limit at mX =100 GeV of 3.7 x 10?³³ cm².
Description
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2012.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-118).
Subjects
Physics.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
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reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written
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