First results from a 20-liter prototype dark matter detector with directional sensitivity
Name
893436047-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
26.39 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
db02e5ecbff47365e6a43bb507877e73
Author(s)
Lopez, Jeremy Paul
Advisor(s)
Peter Fisher.
Alternative Title
First results from a twenty-liter prototype dark matter detector with directional sensitivity
Date Issued
2014
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Astronomical and cosmological evidence suggests that 27% of the energy content of the universe is in the form of non-baryonic matter referred to as "dark matter." Weakly interacting massive particles have long been considered attractive candidates for this dark matter and can be found in a wide variety of models of physics beyond the Standard Model. The Dark Matter Time Projection Chamber experiment uses low-pressure gas time projection chambers to search for nuclear recoils caused by interactions between nuclei inside a detector and weakly interacting massive particles in the dark matter halo of the Milky Way galaxy. These detectors are also able to reconstruct the directions of these nuclear recoils, allowing for better rejection of possible background events. This thesis describes the design of a small prototype detector and the strategies used by the DMTPC collaboration to reconstruct events, reject backgrounds, and identify nuclear recoil candidate events. It presents the results of several studies aimed at understanding background events in DMTPC detectors. Finally, this work will present the first results from a nuclear recoil search taken with this detector in a surface laboratory at MIT.
Description
Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2014.
133
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 191-199).
Subjects
Physics.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Terms of Use
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