Dark Matter Direct Detection

The nature of dark matter is one of the fundamental questions about the universe today, at the forefront of physics research. Direct detection experiments seek to observe interactions of ambient dark matter particles with atomic nuclei in terrestrial detectors. Detector development in this area has pushed the technology of particle detection to low energies (~10 keV) and very low background levels (<1 event/kg/100 days). This studentship addresses dark matter detection with DEAP/CLEAN, which is an international collaboration engaged in a staged program to develop very large liquid Argon (LAr) detectors for low-background searches. DEAP3600 is a 3.6 tonne LAr detector under construction at SNOLab, and will begin taking data in mid-2013. The sensitivity of DEAP3600 to dark matter interaction cross sections is 10-46 cm2, an order of magntude beyond current results. Demonstration of this approach by DEAP/CLEAN will break new ground for next-generation experiments- at the 100 tonne scale, such a detector would be a new kind of observatory at the low-background frontier, testing predicted properties of dark matter, neutrinos, supernovae, and stellar evolution.
Success of the DEAP/CLEAN program depends critically on detailed understanding of the detector to achieve the required background suppression. The PhD student would
•simulate, develop, and build the radioactive source calibration system for DEAP3600,
•execute the radioactive source calibration program in DEAP3600 tagged gamma and neutron source, and,
•develop the data analysis of the calibration data for determining and monitoring the detector energy scale and radius resolutions, which are key inputs to the dark matter search.
RHUL collaborates closely with two other SEPnet partners, Sussex and RAL, on the overall DEAP3600 calibration effort, as well as with the international collaboration institutes; travel to the experiment site (SNOLAB, Ontario, CA) is an integral part of the PhD research.