Browsing by Subject "Dark Matter"
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Item A Search for Dark Matter with the ZEPLIN II Detector(2010-01-14) Gao, JiantingGalaxies and clusters of galaxies are believed to be dominated by non-luminous non-baryonic dark matter. A favored candidate is a new type of Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) with a mass of order 100 GeV/c^2. The ZEPLIN II experiment is a WIMP search experiment that attempts to directly detect WIMP interactions using the two-phase xenon approach. The detector measures both scintillation and ionization generated by interactions in a 31 kg liquid xenon target. This approach provides a powerful discrimination between nuclear recoils, as expected from WIMPs, and background electron recoils. In this work, we develop a new X^2 approach to determine the three dimensional event positions in an attempt to improve the background rejection. The optical properties of the PTFE reflectors and the grids of the detector were determined using the Geant4 simulation, and event positions were obtained by finding the best match to the amount of light in each photomultiplier. This was found to greatly improve the position resolution. The approach was then applied to the WIMP search data. It was found that one of the dominating background sources was events from the gas above the anode grid and not from the PTFE walls caused by the small signals as previously thought. WIMP search results were then obtained from the first 31 days of stable ZEPLIN II data using two methods. Although the X^2 method greatly improved position resolution, the number of background events was not significantly altered and the new limit agreed well with the limit published by the collaboration.Item Lorentz-violating dark matter(2009-05-15) Mondragon, Antonio RichardObservations from the 1930s until the present have established the existence of dark matter with an abundance that is much larger than that of luminous matter. Because none of the known particles of nature have the correct properties to be identified as the dark matter, various exotic candidates have been proposed. The neutralino of supersymmetric theories is the most promising example. Such cold dark matter candidates, however, lead to a conflict between the standard simulations of the evolution of cosmic structure and observations. Simulations predict excessive structure formation on small scales, including density cusps at the centers of galaxies, that is not observed. This conflict still persists in early 2007, and it has not yet been convincingly resolved by attempted explanations that invoke astrophysical phenomena, which would destroy or broaden all small scale structure. We have investigated another candidate that is perhaps more exotic: Lorentz-violating dark matter, which was originally motivated by an unconventional fundamental theory, but which in this dissertation is defined as matter which has a nonzero minimum velocity. Furthermore, the present investigation evolved into the broader goal of exploring the properties of Lorentz-violating matter and the astrophysical consequences ? a subject which to our knowledge has not been previously studied. Our preliminary investigations indicated that this form of matter might have less tendency to form small-scale structure. These preliminary calculations certainly established that Lorentz-violating matter which always moves at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light will bind less strongly. However, the much more thorough set of studies reported here lead to the conclusion that, although the binding energy is reduced, the small-scale structure problem is not solved by Lorentz-violating dark matter. On the other hand, when we compare the predictions of Lorentz-violating dynamics with those of classical special relativity and general relativity, we find that differences might be observable in the orbital motions of galaxies in a cluster. For example, galaxies ? which are composed almost entirely of dark matter ? observed to have enlarged orbits about the cluster center of mass may be an indication of Lorentz violation.Item Low Energy Nuclear Recoil Response in Xenon Gas for Low Mass Dark Matter WIMP Search(2014-04-16) Sofka, Clement JamesOver 80 years of astrophysical observations suggest that the observable luminous matter makes up ? 5% of the total energy density in the Universe. The remaining ~ 95% comes from matter and energy that has not been observed directly. Discovering these "dark" sources of matter/energy is the single most important concern in the modern quest for understanding Nature. We live in an epoch that is almost certainly characterized by a at, expanding Universe. Coupling this with the wealth of astrophysical surveys, we are able to probe the vastness of space, and develop theories of space-time evolution, going back in time several billions of years. The evidence suggests that the Universe began in a Big Bang, underwent a brief moment of Inflation, then cooled and began forming the structures (atoms, molecules, stars, galaxies, etc.) we observe plainly today. An integral part of this consistent story of the Universe's birth and cosmic evolution is the existence of cold dark matter in the form of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) and dark energy. Initial cosmological considerations suggested that WIMPs were some type of Standard Model (SM) particle, but even the best-case estimates lead to matter energy densities that come up well short without a significant modification of the underlying theory of gravity. The best proposed WIMP candidate has surfaced from efforts motivated by particle physics. A new type of WIMP arises out of Supersymmetry (SUSY). The Lightest Supersymmetric Particle (LSP), a neutralino, seems to fit perfectly into both particle physics and cosmology. First estimates from a Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) placed the WIMP in the mass range of O(10) - O(10^(3)) GeV/c^(2). However, there is mounting evidence in recent years that suggests the existence of a low mass WIMP as a suitable dark matter candidate. Some of the most sensitive detectors to low mass WIMPs employ noble liquids as a target medium. Groups using noble liquid detectors are currently limited to the detection of relatively higher mass WIMPs because of detector threshold limits, background effects, or a lack of fundamental understanding of very low energy nuclear recoils (< 3 keVnr). This work is aimed at studying these very low nuclear recoil energies in xenon to improve noble element detector sensitivities and develop a fundamental understanding of nuclear stopping power theories originally studied by Lindhard et al. in the 1960's. We present the nuclear recoil results from measurements using a nearly mono-energetic beam of neutrons aimed at high-pressure gaseous xenon (HPXe) in a time projection chamber (TPC). This work demonstrates the viability of future low mass dark matter WIMP and other rare event searches (e.g. Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay, 0 ) using high pressure noble gases.Item Making the Dark Matter Connection Between Particle Physics and Cosmology(2012-10-19) Krislock, Abram MichaelDark matter has been shown to be extremely abundant in our universe. It comprises about 23 percent of the energy density of the entire universe, which is more than five times greater than the regular matter we already know about. Dark matter cannot be explained within the Standard Model of particle physics. However, models which extend the Standard Model, such as supersymmetry, can explain dark matter. This dissertation investigates the signals of some supersymmetry models in the context of collider physics. If dark matter particles or other supersymmetry particles are produced at some collider experiment, such as the Large Hadron Collider, it is important to know how we can find and measure the signatures and properties of these particles. This dissertation provides some measurement techniques for that exact purpose. These measurement techniques are also very general, making them useful for examining other models of particle physics as well. Lastly, if the supersymmetry model can be understood well enough from collider data, the connection back to cosmology can be made. Namely, it is possible to determine (from LHC data and using a standard cosmological calculation) the abundance of dark matter in the universe. Comparing this collider value with the value already measured will be a crucial step in understanding dark matter. This dissertation provides simulated results of this dark matter abundance calculation for a number of supersymmetry model points.Item Measurement of the Low Energy Nuclear Response in NaI(Tl) Crystals for Use in Dark Matter Direct Detection Experiments(2013-07-30) Stiegler, Tyana MicheleThe response of low energy nuclear recoil in NaI(Tl) is investigated in the following experiment. Such detectors have been used recently to search for evidence of dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). NaI(Tl) crystal response to nuclear recoil energy deposition is a key element in these searches. I discuss the cosmological and experimental motivations for these experiments, followed by an overview of the physics of direct detection and current relevant WIMP search experiments. With the experiment motivations covered, the details of NaI(Tl) detectors are reviewed. The specifics of our experiment are laid out including the neutron production, neutron beam calibration, shielding optimization, experimental design and setup. Then the crystal response calibration studies and Geant4 simulations are discussed followed by the final quenching factor values and uncertainties. This experiment measured quenching factors for sodium recoils in the energy range of (9 keV-40 keV) of 19%-27% QF. These results are similar to current published measurements. Interesting features of the QF measurements include an increase at low energies and a dip in the values at 30 keV, the iodine K-shell absorption edge. The goal of this experiment was to add valuable measurements of nuclear recoils at low energies that are relevant to low-mass WIMP experiments. Future plans will improve and expand on these measurements in order to better understand the response of NaI(Tl) at low energies.Item Search for Supersymmetry in the Jets + Met + TAUS Final State Using the CMS Detector at the LHC(2013-02-28) Montalvo, Roy JoaquinIn this dissertation results are presented from a search for the pair production of heavy colored particles (gluinos, squarks) in R-parity conserving supersymmetric models, in which the lightest supersymmetric particle is a stable and neutral object. The search was performed for events with at least two tau leptons, two highly energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in the final state on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV. The data sample was collected by the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2011, and it corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5fb^?1. The tau isolation variable was optimized for this search. The number of events corresponding to standard model processes in the final selection was estimated to be 7.49 ? 0.74 using background estimation techniques based on data. Nine observed events are found to be in agreement with the standard model prediction, and exclusion limits on gluino mass are obtained in the context of supersymmetric models at the 95% confidence level.Item String Phenomenology in the Era of LHC(2010-10-12) Maxin, James A.The low-energy supersymmetry phenomenology for specific classes of string compactifications is investigated given that the low-energy physics may provide a clue as to the structure of the fundamental theory at high energy scales. The one-parameter model (OPM), a highly constrained subset of minimal Supergravity where all the soft-supersymmetry breaking terms may be fixed in terms of the gaugino mass, is studied, in addition to a three-family Pati-Salam model constructed from intersecting D6-branes. Furthermore, the phenomenology of gravity mediated supersymmetry breaking F-theory SU(5) and SO(10) models, as well as F-SU(5) models with vector- like particles, are examined. We determine the viable parameter space that satisfies all the latest experimental constraints, including the most recent WMAP relic neutralino abundance observations, and find it to be consistent with the CDMS II and other concurrent direct-detection experiments. Moreover, we compute the gamma-ray flux and cross-sections of neutralino annihilations into gamma-rays and compare to the published Fermi-LAT satellite telescope measurements. In F-theory SU(5) and SO(10) models, we predict the exact small deviation of the gaugino mass relation at two-loop level near the electroweak scale, which can be tested at the colliders. More- over, in F-SU(5), we predict the precise deviations from the mSUGRA gaugino mass relations due to the presence of the vector-like particles, also testable at the colliders. The compilation of all these results form a comprehensive collection of predictions with which to evaluate these string models alongside anticipated experimental dis- coveries in the coming decade.