Author
A. Currie
Other affiliations: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Bio: A. Currie is an academic researcher from Imperial College London. The author has contributed to research in topics: Dark matter & ZEPLIN-III. The author has an hindex of 27, co-authored 43 publications receiving 4358 citations. Previous affiliations of A. Currie include Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Topics: Dark matter, ZEPLIN-III, WIMP, Xenon, Scintillation counter
Papers
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Case Western Reserve University1, Imperial College London2, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology3, University of Maryland, College Park4, Yale University5, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory6, University of South Dakota7, University of California, Santa Barbara8, Brown University9, University of Coimbra10, University of Edinburgh11, University of Rochester12, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory13, University of California, Davis14, University College London15, University of California, Berkeley16, Texas A&M University17, Harvard University18
TL;DR: The first WIMP search data set is reported, taken during the period from April to August 2013, presenting the analysis of 85.3 live days of data, finding that the LUX data are in disagreement with low-mass W IMP signal interpretations of the results from several recent direct detection experiments.
Abstract: The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment is a dual-phase xenon time-projection chamber operating at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (Lead, South Dakota). The LUX cryostat was filled for the first time in the underground laboratory in February 2013. We report results of the first WIMP search data set, taken during the period from April to August 2013, presenting the analysis of 85.3 live days of data with a fiducial volume of 118 kg. A profile-likelihood analysis technique shows our data to be consistent with the background-only hypothesis, allowing 90% confidence limits to be set on spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic scattering with a minimum upper limit on the cross section of 7.6 × 10(-46) cm(2) at a WIMP mass of 33 GeV/c(2). We find that the LUX data are in disagreement with low-mass WIMP signal interpretations of the results from several recent direct detection experiments.
1,962 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present constraints on WIMP-nucleus scattering from the 2013 data of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment, including $1.4\times10^{4}\,\mathrm{kg\cdot days}$ of search exposure.
Abstract: We present constraints on WIMP-nucleus scattering from the 2013 data of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment, including $1.4\times10^{4}\,\mathrm{kg\cdot days}$ of search exposure. This new analysis incorporates several advances: single-photon calibration at the scintillation wavelength; improved event-reconstruction algorithms; a revised background model including events originating on the detector walls in an enlarged fiducial volume; and new calibrations from decays of an injected tritium $\beta$ source and from kinematically constrained nuclear recoils down to 1.1 keV. Sensitivity, especially to low-mass WIMPs, is enhanced compared to our previous results which modeled the signal only above a 3 keV minimum energy. Under standard dark matter halo assumptions and in the mass range above 4 $\mathrm{GeV}\,c^{-2}$, these new results give the most stringent direct limits on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross section. The 90% CL upper limit has a minimum of 0.6 zb at 33 $\mathrm{GeV}\,c^{-2}$ WIMP mass.
309 citations
Stanford University1, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory2, Case Western Reserve University3, University of Wisconsin-Madison4, Imperial College London5, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology6, University of Maryland, College Park7, University of Edinburgh8, Yale University9, University of California, Berkeley10, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory11, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory12, University of Coimbra13, University of South Dakota14, Pennsylvania State University15, University of California, Santa Barbara16, Brown University17, University of California, Davis18, University College London19, University of Rochester20, State University of New York System21, University of Massachusetts Amherst22, Texas A&M University23
TL;DR: The spin-dependent WIMP-neutron limit is the most sensitive constraint to date.
Abstract: We present experimental constraints on the spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon elastic cross sections from the total 129.5 kg yr exposure acquired by the Large Underground Xenon experiment (LUX), operating at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota (USA). A profile likelihood ratio analysis allows 90% C.L. upper limits to be set on the WIMP-neutron (WIMP-proton) cross section of σ_{n}=1.6×10^{-41} cm^{2} (σ_{p}=5×10^{-40} cm^{2}) at 35 GeV c^{-2}, almost a sixfold improvement over the previous LUX spin-dependent results. The spin-dependent WIMP-neutron limit is the most sensitive constraint to date.
249 citations
TL;DR: Lux-ZEPLIN (LZ) as mentioned in this paper is a next-generation dark matter direct detection experiment that will operate 4850 feet underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota, USA using a two-phase xenon detector with an active mass of 7 tonnes.
Abstract: LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a next-generation dark matter direct detection experiment that will operate 4850 feet underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota, USA Using a two-phase xenon detector with an active mass of 7 tonnes, LZ will search primarily for low-energy interactions with weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which are hypothesized to make up the dark matter in our galactic halo In this paper, the projected WIMP sensitivity of LZ is presented based on the latest background estimates and simulations of the detector For a 1000 live day run using a 56-tonne fiducial mass, LZ is projected to exclude at 90% confidence level spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross sections above 14 × 10-48cm2 for a 40 GeV/c2 mass WIMP Additionally, a 5σ discovery potential is projected, reaching cross sections below the exclusion limits of recent experiments For spin-dependent WIMP-neutron(-proton) scattering, a sensitivity of 23 × 10−43 cm2 (71 × 10−42 cm2) for a 40 GeV/c2
mass WIMP is expected With underground installation well underway, LZ is on track for commissioning at SURF in 2020
231 citations
TL;DR: The ZEPLIN-III experiment in the Palmer Underground Laboratory at Boulby uses a 12 kg two-phase xenon time-projection chamber to search for the weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) that may account for the dark matter of our Galaxy as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The ZEPLIN-III experiment in the Palmer Underground Laboratory at Boulby uses a 12 kg two-phase xenon time-projection chamber to search for the weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) that may account for the dark matter of our Galaxy. The detector measures both scintillation and ionization produced by radiation interacting in the liquid to differentiate between the nuclear recoils expected from WIMPs and the electron-recoil background signals down to ∼10keV nuclear-recoil energy. An analysis of 847kg•days of data acquired between February 27, 2008, and May 20, 2008, has excluded a WIMP-nucleon elastic scattering spin-independent cross section above 8.1×10-8pb at 60GeVc-2 with a 90% confidence limit. It has also demonstrated that the two-phase xenon technique is capable of better discrimination between electron and nuclear recoils at low-energy than previously achieved by other xenon-based experiments. © 2009 The American Physical Society.
204 citations
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TL;DR: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one, which seems an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.
Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.
Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …
33,785 citations
Columbia University1, University of Amsterdam2, University of Bologna3, University of Mainz4, University of Münster5, University of Coimbra6, New York University Abu Dhabi7, University of Zurich8, Stockholm University9, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute10, Max Planck Society11, Weizmann Institute of Science12, University of Freiburg13, University of Nantes14, University of California, San Diego15, University of Chicago16, Purdue University17, Rice University18, Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University19, University of California, Los Angeles20
TL;DR: In this article, a search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) using 278.8 days of data collected with the XENON1T experiment at LNGS is reported.
Abstract: We report on a search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) using 278.8 days of data collected with the XENON1T experiment at LNGS. XENON1T utilizes a liquid xenon time projection chamber with a fiducial mass of (1.30±0.01) ton, resulting in a 1.0 ton yr exposure. The energy region of interest, [1.4,10.6] keVee ([4.9,40.9] keVnr), exhibits an ultralow electron recoil background rate of [82-3+5(syst)±3(stat)] events/(ton yr keVee). No significant excess over background is found, and a profile likelihood analysis parametrized in spatial and energy dimensions excludes new parameter space for the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent elastic scatter cross section for WIMP masses above 6 GeV/c2, with a minimum of 4.1×10-47 cm2 at 30 GeV/c2 and a 90% confidence level.
1,808 citations
TL;DR: The identity of dark matter is a question of central importance in both astrophysics and particle physics as discussed by the authors, and recent progress has greatly expanded the list of well-motivated candidates and the possible signatures of the dark matter.
Abstract: The identity of dark matter is a question of central importance in both astrophysics and particle physics. In the past, the leading particle candidates were cold and collisionless, and typically predicted missing energy signals at particle colliders. However, recent progress has greatly expanded the list of well-motivated candidates and the possible signatures of dark matter. This review begins with a brief summary of the standard model of particle physics and its outstanding problems. We then discuss several dark matter candidates motivated by these problems, including WIMPs, superWIMPs, light gravitinos, hidden dark matter, sterile neutrinos, and axions. For each of these, we critically examine the particle physics motivations and present their expected production mechanisms, basic properties, and implications for direct and indirect detection, particle colliders, and astrophysical observations. Upcoming experiments will discover or exclude many of these candidates, and progress may open up an era of unprecedented synergy between studies of the largest and smallest observable length scales.
976 citations
TL;DR: The identity of dark matter is a question of central importance in both astrophysics and particle physics as mentioned in this paper, and recent progress has greatly expanded the list of well-motivated candidates.
Abstract: The identity of dark matter is a question of central importance in both astrophysics and particle physics. In the past, the leading particle candidates were cold and collisionless, and typically predicted missing energy signals at particle colliders. However, recent progress has greatly expanded the list of well-motivated candidates and the possible signatures of dark matter. This review begins with a brief summary of the standard model of particle physics and its outstanding problems. I then discuss several dark matter candidates motivated by these problems, including weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), superWIMPs, light gravitinos, hidden dark matter, sterile neutrinos, and axions. For each of these, I critically examine the particle physics motivations and present their expected production mechanisms, basic properties, and implications for direct and indirect detection, particle colliders, and astrophysical observations. Upcoming experiments will discover or exclude many of these candidates, and progress may open up an era of unprecedented synergy between studies of the largest and smallest observable length scales.
952 citations
Southern Methodist University1, California Institute of Technology2, Case Western Reserve University3, University of Zurich4, University of Florida5, Fermilab6, Stanford University7, University of California, Santa Barbara8, University of Minnesota9, University of California, Berkeley10, Massachusetts Institute of Technology11, University of Colorado Denver12, Syracuse University13, Texas A&M University14, Queen's University15, St. Olaf College16, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory17, Santa Clara University18
TL;DR: The results from the completed Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) experiment, which searched for dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP), cannot be interpreted with confidence as evidence for WIMP interactions, but neither event can be ruled out as representing signal.
Abstract: We report results from a blind analysis of the final data taken with the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment (CDMS II) at the Soudan Underground Laboratory, Minnesota, USA. A total raw exposure of 612 kg-days was analyzed for this work. We observed two events in the signal region; based on our background estimate, the probability of observing two or more background events is 23%. These data set an upper limit on the Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP)-nucleon elastic-scattering spin-independent cross-section of 7.0 x 10{sup -44} cm{sup 2} for a WIMP of mass 70 GeV/c{sup 2} at the 90% confidence level. Combining this result with all previous CDMS II data gives an upper limit on the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross-section of 3.8 x 10{sup -44} cm{sup 2} for a WIMP of mass 70 GeV/c{sup 2}. We also exclude new parameter space in recently proposed inelastic dark matter models.
903 citations