Speaker
Reina Maruyama
(Yale University)
Description
Astrophysical observations give overwhelming evidence for the existence of dark matter. The DAMA collaboration has asserted for years that they observe a dark matter-induced annual modulation signal in their NaI(Tl)-based detectors, while other direct detection dark matter experiments have seen no indications of a signal. I will describe the current status and prospect for alternative low-background NaI(Tl)-based dark matter experiments, and their proposed strategies for resolving the current stalemate in the field.