Speaker
Description
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Summary
Direct searches for dark matter attempt to observe signals of Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) elastic interactions with normal matter. Sensitive direct search measurements have probed masses as low as a few GeV. Presently in operation, the LUX experiment uses a 370-kg liquid-xenon target as a time projection chamber to set most stringent limits on the cross section for dark matter interaction with Xe nuclei, as a function of WIMP mass. The LUX-Zeplin (LZ) liquid-xenon (7 tonnes active Xe volume) WIMP dark matter direct search project concept was selected by the US DOE Office of High Energy Physics for support as one 2nd generation direct dark matter search for the Cosmic Frontier Program. The LZ experiment will scale up proven two-phase liquid xenon detection technology to significantly extend previous searches and discover or provide the best limits of WIMP dark matter for WIMP mass above a few GeV. This talk will describe the R&D underway, results from initial system tests and status of construction of the LZ experiment.
