24,843 research outputs found
The DarkSide Program at LNGS
No full textDarkSide is a direct detection dark matter program at LNGS that is based on two phase depleted argon time projection chambers. A combination of low background construction techniques and active background suppression will give the DarkSide detectors very low and extremely well understood rates of background events. A 10 kg prototype detector is currently being operated at LNGS, while DarkSide-50, the first physics detector in the DarkSide program, is currently being constructed
DArKSIDE-50: A view of the first atmospheric argon runDArKside Collaboration
No full textThe DArKside (DS) program aims to detect the so-called WIMPs
(Weakly Interactive Massive Particle) which are considered the best candidates for
Dark Matter. WIMPs elastically scattering would be detected by using a twophase
Time Projection Chamber (TPC) based on argon nuclei target. Thanks to
the properties of the scintillation and ionization signals detected by the TPC it is
possible to discriminate a WIMP-induced signal from one induced by background.
DS-50 started its data taking on November 2013 with atmospheric argon (later with
underground argon depleted in 39Ar.
The DarkSide veto: muon and neutron detectors
No full textThe existence of dark matter is known because of its gravitational
effects, and although its nature remains undisclosed, there is a growing indication
that the galactic halo could be permeated by weakly interactive massive particles
(WIMPs) with mass of the order of 100 GeV. Direct observation of WIMP-nuclear
collisions in a laboratory detector plays a key role in dark matter searches. However,
it also poses significant challenges, as the expected signals are low in energy and
very rare. DarkSide is a project for direct observation of WIMPs in a liquid argon
time-projection chamber specifically designed to overtake the difficulties of these
challenges. A limiting background for all dark matter detectors is the production in
their active volumes of nuclear recoils from the elastic scattering of radiogenic and
cosmogenic neutrons. To rule out this background, DarkSide-50 is surrounded by
a water tank serving as a Cherenkov detector for muons, and a boron-doped liquid
scintillator acting as an active, high-efficiency neutron detector
DarkSide-50: a WIMP search with a two-phase argon TPC
No full textDarkSide-50 is a two phase argon TPC for direct dark matter detection which is installed at the Gran Sasso underground
laboratory, Italy. DarkSide-50 has a 50-kg active volume and will make use of underground argon low 3in9Ar. The
TPC is installed inside an active neutron veto made with boron-loaded high radiopurity liquid scintillator. The neutron
veto is installed inside a 1000 m3 water Cherenkov muon veto. The DarkSide-50 TPC and cryostat are assembled in
two radon-free clean rooms to reduce radioactive contaminants. The overall design aims for a background free exposure
after selection cuts are applied. Theexpected sensitivity for WIMP-nucleon cross section is of the order of 1−045 cm2
for WIMP masses around 100 GeV/c2. The commissioning and performance of the detector are described. Details of
thelow-radioactivity underground argon and other unique features of the projects are reported
DarkSide-50: results from first argon run
No full textDarkSide (DS) at Gran Sasso underground laboratory is a direct dark matter search program
based on TPCs with liquid argon from underground sources. The DS-50 TPC, with
50 kg o iquid argon is installed inside active neutron and muon detectors. DS-50 has been
taking data since Nov 2013, collecting more than 10 7 events with atmospheric argon. This
data represents an exposure to the largest background, beta decays of 39 Ar, comparable to
the full 3 y run of DS-50 with underground argon. When analysed with a threshold that
would give a sensitivity in the full run of about 10 − 45 cm2 at a WIMP mass of 100 GeV,
there is no 39 Ar background observed. We present the detector design and performance,
the results from the atmospheric argon run and plans for an upscale to a multi-ton detector
along with its sensitivity
First results from the DarkSide-50dark matter experiment at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso
No full textWe report the first results of DarkSide-50, a direct search for dark matter operating in the underground Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) and searching for the rare nuclear recoils possibly induced by weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). The dark matter detector is a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber with a (46.4 ±0.7)kgactive mass, operated inside a 30t organic liquid scintillator neutron veto, which is in turn installed at the center of a 1kt water Cherenkov veto for the residual flux of cosmic rays. We report here the null results of a dark matter search for a (1422 ±67)kgdexposure with an atmospheric argon fill. This is the most sensitive dark matter search performed with an argon target, corresponding to a 90% CL upper limit on the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross section of 6.1 ×10−44cm2for a WIMP mass of 100Gev/c
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Data from: "DarkSide-20k sensitivity to light dark matter particles"
No full textThese files provide expected limits from the preprint of arXiv:2407.05813, "DarkSide-20k sensitivity to light dark matter particles" and are made available by the DarkSide-20k Collaboration
The Electronics and Data Acquisition System of the DarkSide Dark Matter Search
No full textThis paper reports on the electronics and data acquisition system
of a dark matter (DM) search using a 50 kg dual-phase, liquid argon time
projection chamber (TPC) which was embedded in water and liquid scintillator
veto detectors (DS-50). If DM is a subatomic particle, a possible candidate is
a Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP), and the DS-50 experiment is a
direct search for evidence of WIMP-nuclear collisions at the Laboratori Nazionali
del Gran Sasso (LNGS). The light from nuclear excitation in the TPC as a result
of a WIMP-Nuclear collision, is collected by 38 photomultiplier tubes (PMT)
positioned on the top and bottom of the cylindrical TPC cryostat. The two
veto detectors, instrumented with PMT, shield the TPC and tag background
events due to cosmogneic and local radioactivity. All PMT signals from both the
TPC and Veto systems are digitized and their waveforms transferred in parallel
to event building computers running the ARTDAQ software developed at the
Fermi National Laboratory (FNAL). This paper describes the system triggers,
the synchronization of the data flows, and the event building for both the TPC
and Veto
WIMP Search with Underground Argon in DarkSide-50
No full textDarkSide-50 is a direct WIMP detection experiment at Gran Sasso underground laboratory in Italy based on a 50 kg dual-phase argon Time Projection Chamber with liquid argon from underground sources. DarkSide-50 aims to perform background-free WIMP searches with active vetos of a 30-tonne liquid scintillator neutron veto and a 1k-tonne water Cherenkov muon veto. DarkSide-50 has been taking data with underground Ar, which is significantly depleted in radioactive Ar, and measured its depletion factor. The result of WIMP searches with 70 live-days of underground argon data will be presented. Also recent study of the liquid scintillator veto's performance and the future plan will be discussed
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DarkSide-20k sensitivity to light dark matter particles
No full textThe dual-phase liquid argon time projection chamber is presently one of the leading technologies to search for dark matter particles with masses below 10 GeV c−2. This was demonstrated by the DarkSide-50 experiment with approximately 50 kg of low-radioactivity liquid argon as target material. The next generation experiment DarkSide-20k, currently under construction, will use 1,000 times more argon and is expected to start operation in 2027. Based on the DarkSide-50 experience, here we assess the DarkSide-20k sensitivity to models predicting light dark matter particles, including Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) and sub-GeV c−2 particles interacting with electrons in argon atoms. With one year of data, a sensitivity improvement to dark matter interaction cross-sections by at least one order of magnitude with respect to DarkSide-50 is expected for all these models. A sensitivity to WIMP–nucleon interaction cross-sections below 1 × 10−42 cm2 is achievable for WIMP masses above 800 MeV c−2. With 10 years exposure, the neutrino fog can be reached for WIMP masses around 5 GeV c−2
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