Abstract
The XENON program consists in operating and developing double-phase time projection chambers using liquid xenon as the target material. It aims to directly detect dark matter in the form of WIMPs via their elastic scattering off xenon nuclei. The current phase is XENON100, located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), with a 62 kg liquid xenon target. We present the 100.9 live days of data, acquired between January and June 2010, with no evidence of dark matter, as well as the new results of the last scientific run, with about 225 live days. The next phase, XENON1T, will increase the sensitivity by two orders of magnitude.
Highlights
Astronomical and cosmological observations indicate that a large amount of the energy content in the Universe is made of dark matter [1]
Particle candidates under the generic name of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) arise naturally in many theories beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, such as supersymmetry, universal extra dimensions, or little Higgs models [2]. They may be observed in underground-based detectors, sensitive enough to measure the low-energy nuclear recoil resulting from the coherent scattering of a WIMP with a target nucleus [3]
The XENON dark matter project searches for nuclear recoils from WIMPs scattering off xenon nuclei
Summary
Astronomical and cosmological observations indicate that a large amount of the energy content in the Universe is made of dark matter [1]. Particle candidates under the generic name of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) arise naturally in many theories beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, such as supersymmetry, universal extra dimensions, or little Higgs models [2]. They may be observed in underground-based detectors, sensitive enough to measure the low-energy nuclear recoil resulting from the coherent scattering of a WIMP with a target nucleus [3]. The extraordinary sensitivity of XENON to dark matter is due to the combination of a large, homogeneous volume of ultra pure liquid xenon as the WIMP target, in a detector which measures the energy, and the three spatial coordinates of each event occurring within the active target. The simultaneous detection of the Xe scintillation light (S1) at the few keVee level (keV electron equivalent), and ionization (S2) at the single electron level, allows to discriminate electronic recoils (ERs) from nuclear recoils (NRs), providing the basis of one of the major background techniques
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