Eda Gjergo

PHYS 485

Review #1

01/16/14

A Noble Pursuit: Single Phase Liquid Argon

Direct Dark Matter Searches
Kimberley J. Palladino, MIT - DEAP/CLEAN Collaboration
The existence of Dark Matter has
emerged since the early 1930s, when Dr.
Zwicky observed the Coma cluster. By using
the virial theorem, he realized that the
existing matter in galaxies had to be several
times more massive than the collection of
observable stars and gas or dust, assuming
the physics to be correct. The missing mass is
easily

understandable

with

the

galaxy

rotation problem1, which points out the

discrepancy between the tangential velocity of
stars located at the periphery of a galaxy and
the total mass inferred by the galaxys
brightness. Explanations other than dark
matter were proposed, but virtually all of
them

have

now

been

ruled

out

by

experimental data2. Cosmologists today are

(fig. 1)
Figure from the Supernova Cosmology Project: The confidence contours from Type Ia supernovae,
Cosmic Microwave Background, and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations observed in clusters, all converge to a
CDM parametrization of General Relativity. This concordance of independent experiments gives todays
observational cosmology great confidence on our understanding of the universe. The Y and X axis
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Eda Gjergo

PHYS 485

Review #1

01/16/14

certain of the existence of cold non-baryonic matter, approximately 5 times as abundant as

normal matter3. This is not the entire picture. The current best description of the universe is
called CDM model, and it includes Dark Energy,
proposed to be an additional component of the
Universe, making up about ~ of all the total density
parameter. Dr. Palladinos talk, however, focuses on
Dark Matter, and in particular its direct detection. Dark
Matter is believed to be a particle outside of the
standard model. It is transparent, meaning that it does
not interact electromagnetically with baryonic matter or
at large scale with itself4, except gravitationally.
Candidates for cold dark matter (with cold meaning
they do not travel at relativistic speeds) are hypothetical
particles such as axions, SUSYs (supersymmetric)
particles, and WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles). SUSY has been almost
completely ruled out by the LHC, and the need to focus the efforts on WIMPs was confirmed
at the Snowmass CSS 2013 meeting.
WIMPs seem the ideal candidates due to the so called WIMP miracle. There is a
surprising agreement between the weak force interaction scale and the relic density, which has
originated after the big bang either due to asymmetry or due to very low cross section, and
would have allowed particles and antiparticles to not annihilate at time of creation.
represent the ratios of densities for Dark Energy and total matter respectively, over the critical density of
the universe.
3
Pie chart from the latest analysis of the Planck satellite (2013).
4
Image shows the Bullet Cluster, which depicts the collision of two subclusters of galaxies. The red color
represents the interaction of bayonic gas due to the collision, the blue regions display the unaffected matter
distribution after collision, showing that dark matter can cross other dark matter with virtually no form of
interaction, except gravitational.

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Eda Gjergo

PHYS 485

Review #1

01/16/14

There is a multitude of Dark Matter Detection Experiments, which can be classified

according to which technique they employ: Ionization, Scintillation, or Phonons. Experiments
such as DAMA/LIBRA, CRESST II, COGENT, and the Silicon-based CDMS all claim to have
observed events (as little as 3) which are attributable to WIMPs, but there are still questions on
calibration and taking into account phenomena such as the Sidereal effect. Suspicious is
DAMA/LIBRA for the scientific community, as it still refuses to release its data. All
experiments, if all plotted together in an energy diagram, point to the exclusion of all possible
regions of existence for WIMPs. Not all may be lost. All experiments measure different
quantities and only infer the exclusion of energy regions. Analysis is still under way to make
sense of a consistent comparison.
Dr. Palladino works mainly on MiniCLEAN, but also on DEAP-3600, as they both
share the same space in the SNOLAB facility in Canada. The detection in MiniCLEAN will
happen via nuclear recoil, with target elements being either Liquid Argon or Neon, Argon is
the chosen element at an initial stage. Heavier noble gases produce too much radioactive
material and are therefore excluded by all experiments. As noble gases are inert, it is
hypothesized that massive particles such as WIMPs will scatter from the Argon nuclei. Both
experiments are unique in the elimination of background noise caused by beta and gamma
radiation, utilizing pulse-shape discrimination and fiducialization. Both require temperatures
near a couple of Kelvins and extremely sterile environments.

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