An Effective Field Theory Dark Matter Search Using High Energy Nuclear Recoil in the LZ Experiment.

在 LZ 实验中使用高能核反冲力进行有效场论暗物质搜索。

基本信息

批准号：
2815173
负责人：
金额：
--
依托单位：
University of Bristol
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Studentship
财政年份：
2022
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2022 至无数据
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2815173
关键词：
Effective Field Theory Dark Matter

项目摘要

The existence of Dark Matter is well motivated from astrophysical and cosmological observations but, as yet, has not been observed directly. The LuxZeplin (LZ) detector is the world most sensitive liquid xenon detector with the main physics goal is to search for "weakly interacting matter particle" (WIMP) dark matter. After a successful science run 1 (SR1), science run 2 (SR2) is currently ongoing in the data collection phase.Main objective of this project is to perform an effective field theory (EFT) analysis of SR2 data: extending the search region out to higher recoil energies than standard low energy WIMP search. This is motivated by the fact the several more complex dark matter interaction models are expected to occur at higher energies. The result will be either the discovery of a new dark matter candidate particle, or the setting of world leading limits on EFT coupling parameters.In addition to the main analysis task, several other contributions will be made including: upgrading the currently analysis pipeline to use more modern computational architectures, especially GPU clusters; improving simulations which in turn will improve background discrimination; improvement of current background models - likely with the use of machine learning.The project falls within the STFC Particle Astrophysics research area supporting question C4 - "What is the nature of Dark Matter and Dark Energy?". The research is performed as part of the LuxZeplin Collaboration.

暗物质的存在充分受到天体物理学和宇宙学观测的启发，但迄今为止尚未被直接观测到。 LuxZeplin (LZ) 探测器是世界上最灵敏的液氙探测器，其主要物理目标是寻找“弱相互作用物质粒子”(WIMP) 暗物质。在成功完成科学运行 1 (SR1) 后，科学运行 2 (SR2) 目前正在进行数据收集阶段。该项目的主要目标是对 SR2 数据进行有效的场论 (EFT) 分析：将搜索区域扩展到外部比标准低能量 WIMP 搜索更高的反冲能量。这是因为几个更复杂的暗物质相互作用模型预计会在更高的能量下发生。结果要么是发现新的暗物质候选粒子，要么是对 EFT 耦合参数设定世界领先的限制。除了主要分析任务外，还将做出其他一些贡献，包括：升级当前的分析管道以使用更现代的计算架构，尤其是 GPU 集群；改进模拟，从而改善背景辨别；改进当前背景模型 - 可能通过使用机器学习。该项目属于 STFC 粒子天体物理学研究领域，支持问题 C4 -“暗物质和暗能量的本质是什么？”。该研究是 LuxZeplin 合作的一部分。