Collaborative Research: Continuation of the XENON Dark Matter Search at LNGS

合作研究：在 LNGS 继续进行氙暗物质搜索

• 批准号: 1413255
• 负责人: Petr Chaguine
• 金额: $ 76.68万
• 依托单位: William Marsh Rice University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-01 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1413255&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Continuation; XENON; Dark

Multiple astronomical observations have established that about 85% of the matter in the universe is not made of known particles. Deciphering the nature of this so-called Dark Matter is of fundamental importance to cosmology, astrophysics, and high-energy particle physics with profound implications for our view of the Universe. A leading hypothesis is that it is comprised of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, or WIMPs, that were produced moments after the Big Bang. If WIMPs are the dark matter, then their presence in our galaxy may be detectable via scattering from atomic nuclei in detectors located deep underground to help reject backgrounds due to cosmic rays.The identification of Dark Matter (DM) poses a challenge that is being addressed with a variety of complementary approaches and technologies. The direct search for DM with the XENON project at the Gran Sasso laboratory promises an extremely cost-efficient approach to cover vast regions of expected DM parameter space. This award will enable the US groups in XENON to participate in the operations and data analysis of XENON100 well into 2015 when the start of the scientific program with XENON1T is expected. With a strong presence at Gran Sasso, the US groups will maintain a leading role in the commissioning and operation of XENON1T. Broader Impacts:A number of students as well as post-doctoral researchers are involved in the XENON project at universities across the US. They are exposed to a variety of subjects in fundamental physics and cosmology, and trained in the development and application of state-of-the-art technologies, preparing them to become future leaders in the field. The instrumentation and techniques used in XENON are relevant to a wide range of applications, from areas in homeland security and medical imaging, to the analysis and statistical treatment of large data sets.

多次天文观察结果表明，宇宙中约有85％的物质不是由已知粒子制成的。破译这种所谓的暗物质的性质对于宇宙学，天体物理学和高能量粒子物理学至关重要，对我们对宇宙的看法具有深远的影响。一个主要的假设是，它由弱相互作用的巨大颗粒或wimps组成，这些颗粒或wimps是在大爆炸后瞬间产生的。如果wimps是暗物质，那么它们在我们的星系中的存在可能可以通过在地下深处的探测器中散射从原子核中散射来检测到它们，以帮助拒绝由于宇宙射线而引起的背景。暗物质（DM）构成了一个挑战，该挑战正在通过各种互补的方法和技术来解决。 Gran Sasso实验室的XENON项目的直接搜索DM承诺采用极其成本效益的方法来涵盖庞大的预期DM参数空间。该奖项将使XENON的美国团体能够在2015年的Xenon100进行操作和数据分析，直到有望通过Xenon1t的科学计划开始。在格兰·萨索（Gran Sasso）的强大存在下，美国团体将在Xenon1t的调试和运作中保持领导作用。更广泛的影响：许多学生和博士后研究人员都参与了美国大学的Xenon项目。他们接触了基本物理和宇宙学领域的各种科目，并接受了最先进技术的开发和应用培训，这使他们成为该领域的未来领导者。 XENON中使用的仪器和技术与广泛的应用相关，从国土安全和医学成像的领域到大型数据集的分析和统计处理。