"Dark" Series Colloquium 1# Dark Matter Direct Detection – how far we have come and how far we have to go (LUX ZEPLIN Experiment)

by Prof. Richard Gaitskell (Brown University)

Thursday 29 Apr 2021, 10:00 → 11:00 Asia/Shanghai

CHEP

We have been searching for the direct interactions of dark matter in sub-terrestrial detectors for over 30 years. We have tested and ruled out many possible particle physics models. I will discuss why we are still looking for these elusive particles, and what theories motivate us. A wide range of techniques have been employed in order to attempt to establish convincing evidence for these interactions. I have worked on five of them during this period, and I will discuss many of the technological breakthroughs we have made in this quest. In the early-experimental stages of our searches interaction rates of 1000’s per kg of detector per day were explored. Today we are looking for dark matter events that are as rare as 1 per kg per century. We carry this out with detectors that have active masses that are at the tonne-scale, but yet they can be sensitive to particle interactions with energies of less than 1 keV. I will include a discussion of the LUX ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment which will have a world-leading sensitivity in the search for WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles). LZ is a 10-tonne active liquid Xe time projection chamber, is in final stages of construction and will be operated underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility, SD. I will also look at the future of the field beyond this current stage. INTRODUCTION OF THE SPEAKER： Richard Gaitskell is the Hazard Professor of Physics, head of the Particle Astrophysics Group and the Director of the Center for the Fundamental Physics of the Universe at Brown University. He has been the co-spokesperson of the LUX (Large Underground Xenon) dark matter experiment and has been the spokesperson of the LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiment. He completed his BSc, MA and DPhil at Oxford University in the UK, where he also became a Prize Fellow at Magdalen College. He later conducted research work at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and University College London. His focus has also been on studying and developing new technologies for the advanced detectors used in rare event searches. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. In the 1980's he was also an Investment Banker. Zoom： https://zoom.com.cn/j/96357968034?pwd=K2REeGF0V2dqOElRd09hVGVRcDk4Zz09 or https://cern.zoom.us/j/96357968034?pwd=K2REeGF0V2dqOElRd09hVGVRcDk4Zz09 Meeting ID: 963 5796 8034 Password: 125125 Video download： https://pan.baidu.com/s/1sbbAAtvzvziuLuP9tEryDQ Password: 0429

Slides 210429_Dark_Matter_Direct_Detection_Gaitskell_(Beijing,_China,_April_2021)_v06.pdf