The Cosmic Microwave Background has been our most profilic source of precision cosmology data. The monopole spectrum of the CMB is the dominant radiation field at 1 mm at 1 AU from the Sun. The anisotropy of the CMB is 10,000 times smaller, but still easily measurable over the galactic foreground. But the polarization anisotropy of the CMB is another order of magnitude smaller, and the B-mode...
The accelerated expansion of the Universe is the most surprising cosmological discovery in decades. It has inspired a new generation ambitious surveys to determine the fundamental nature of this acceleration. This talk will introduce the different measurement techniques used by these surveys, and describe the landscape of current and near future cosmological sky surveys. This talk will...
Strong gravitational lensing is a powerful and unique probe of the nature of dark matter. Relying only on dark matter's gravitational interaction, strong lensing can test dark matter models that range from primordial black holes to warm, cold, and self-interacting. After a brief introduction to strong lensing as a probe of dark matter I will review some of the most exciting recent results and...
Dark Matter could be detected indirectly through the observation of neutrinos produced in self-annihilations or decays. Searches for such neutrino signals have resulted in some of the most stringent constraints on the lifetime of heavy dark matter and world best limits on spin-dependent scattering with matter. Searches have made significant progress in sensitivity through new search...
Annihilation of WIMPs into gamma-rays could provide an observable signal in future ground-based gamma-ray experiments like CTA over most of the natural parameter space for a thermal relic. High energy gamma-ray observations provide key constraints on WIMP DM, and together with complimentary direct detection and collider-based searches comprise a comprehensive program for
either confirming or...
I will review the current status of searches for dark matter at the Large Hadron Collider, with particular attention to the interplay with other kinds of searches and the theoretical constructions used to interpret them.
ABRACADABRA, A Broadband/Resonant Approach to Cosmic Axion Detection with an Amplifying B-field Ring Apparatus, is an experiment that searches for ultra-light axion and axion-like dark matter in the mass range $10^{-14}-10^{-6}\,$eV. It uses a toroidal magnet to source an oscillating effective electric current from interactions with the axion field. This current is then detected and amplified...
We consider the prospects for multiple dark matter direct detection experiments to determine if the interactions of a dark matter candidate are isospin-violating. We focus on theoretically well-motivated examples of isospin-violating dark matter (IVDM), including models in which dark matter interactions with nuclei are mediated by a dark photon, a Z, or a squark. We determine that the best...
The dark matter (DM) halo of M31 is predicted to extend to roughly 300 kpc from its center, and have a mass on the order of 10^{12} M_sun, which amounts to roughly 90% of the galaxy's total mass. The halo is also predicted to contain a large amount of substructure, a subset of which hosts M31's population of satellite dwarf galaxies. At a distance of about 785 kpc from the Milky Way (MW), the...
The properties of the dark matter particle(s), including its mass and self interactions, affect the abundance and density profiles of dark matter substructure with viral masses below 10^9 solar masses. When these halos impinge on the multiple images in strong gravitational lenses, they perturb image magnifications significantly. To connect this observable to populations of dark matter halos...
The expansion rate of the universe had a strong influence on the origin of the dark matter abundance during the early stages of the universe's evolution, mainly prior to big-bang nucleosynthesis. Any departure of the expansion rate of the universe from the standard cosmological model during that time can modify the dark matter abundance. In this poster, I will show the role played by a scalar...
The COSINE-100 experiment is a NaI(Tl) dark matter direct detection experiment, with the goal of testing DAMA’s claim for dark matter detection by looking for an annual modulation signal. It has 8 NaI(Tl) crystals, adding to a total of 106 kg, and 2000 liters of a liquid scintillator veto. Located at the Yangyang Underground Laboratory, South Korea, COSINE-100 has been running since September...
GAPS is the first experiment optimized primarily to detect low-energy cosmic antideuterons and antiprotons. Any observation of low-energy antideuterons would indicate new physics because the expected flux of such particles from conventional astrophysics is extraordinarily small. Meanwhile, low-energy antiprotons can be used to probe cosmic-ray propagation models, and with sensitivity to both...
Although the freeze-out of the dark matter (DM) number density depends on the evolution of the DM temperature, their co-evolution remains largely unexplored; it is usually assumed that the DM and standard model (SM) sectors have the same temperature. On the other hand, when the DM particles pair-annihilate with one DM particle in the final state (semi-annihilate), there is no guarantee that...
The interaction rate of hypothesized dark matter particles in an Earth bound detector is expected to undergo an annual modulation due to the planet’s orbital motion. The DAMA/LIBRA experiment has observed such a modulation with high significance in an array of scintillating NaI(Tl) crystals. This claim is still unverified inasmuch as the other experiments involved in this research use...
Supernova 1987A provides strong constraints on dark-sector particles with masses below ~100 MeV. If such particles are produced in sufficient quantity, they reduce the cooling time of the supernova, in conflict with observations. We consider the resulting constraints on dark photons, milli-charged particles, axions and sub-GeV dark matter coupled to dark photons. For the first time, we include...
Macroscopic objects made of baryonic matter with sizable strangeness (i.e. many of the valence quarks are strange quarks, rather than the usual up and down quarks found in protons and neutrons) may be stable, and may have formed prior to nucleosynthesis [1][2] thus evading the principal constraint on baryonic dark matter. We have analyzed the expected signals that would be...
The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is a neutrinoless double-beta decay experiment operating at the 4850' level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility that uses modular arrays of enriched, 76Ge detectors in an ultra-low background environment. The DEMONSTRATOR has a low energy program that is capable of probing a variety of exotic keV-scale physics; it has recently produced limits on generic...
An investigation into the signatures of breaking the symmetry of the current group structure of Nature in order to determine the fate of the strong and electromagnetic forces as the Universe expands and cools from 2.7 K to 0 K. A spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) is considered and constraints upon the scalar fields charged under SU(3)_C and U(1)_EM are discussed. For the usual Higgs...
We estimate the gravitational radiation signature of the electron/positron annihilation-driven neutrino burst accompanying the asymmetric collapse of an initially hydrostatic, radiation-dominated supermassive object suffering the Feynman-Chandrasekhar instability.
An object with a mass $5\times10^4M_\odot
The direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter has received increased interest in the last few years. Recent proposals for experimental ideas using dark matter electron scattering have opened up previously unexplored, but theoretically well-motivated, regions of parameter space. As these experiments increase their cross section reach and exposures, they will start to become sensitive to...
The Light Dark Matter eXperiment (LDMX) proposes a high-statistics search for low- mass dark matter in fixed-target electron-nucleus collisions. Ultimately, LDMX will explore thermal relic dark matter over most of the viable sub-GeV mass range to a decisive level of sensitivity. To achieve this goal, LDMX employs the missing momentum technique, where electrons scattering in a thin target can...
Searches for dark matter annihilations in the Sun have resulted in some of the strongest bounds on the dark matter proton scattering cross section. Solar dark matter searches, however face an irreducible background from solar atmospheric neutrinos. We are presenting a search for solar atmospheric neutrinos conducted with the IceCube neutrino telescope to quantify this sensitivity floor....
Rotation curves of galaxies have diverse behavior in the central regions, but they obey an organizing principle in that the rotation curves can be approximately described by a radial acceleration relation or the Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) phenomenology. We show that both the diversity
and uniformity are naturally reproduced in a hierarchical structure formation model with the simple...
COSINE-100 is a direct detection dark matter experiment consisting of 106 kg of low-background NaI(Tl) detectors located at the Yangyang Underground Laboratory in Korea. One of the primary physics goals of COSINE-100 is to search for a WIMP-induced annual modulation signal to confirm or refute DAMA/LIBRA’s claim of dark matter discovery. The search for an annual modulation signal requires a...
The observation of a neutrinoless double $\beta$ decay branching ratio is the only known test if neutrinos are Majorana fermions. While one of the isotope, ${}^{82}\mathrm{Se}$, being a double $\beta$ decay candidate, amorphous selenium have been used as X-ray detector for medical imaging for decades. In this work, a high-resolution solid state a-Se imaging detector based on CMOS technology...
Strong gravitational lensing provides a means of measuring the halo mass function into regimes below which baryons are reliable tracers of structure. In this low mass regime (M_vir<10^9 M_sun), the microscopic characteristics of dark matter affect the abundance of dark matter halos.Strong gravitational lensing has been limited by the small number of systems which can be used to detect dark...
Our ever-increasing observational knowledge of satellite galaxy systems now allows us to identify structures in the phase-space distribution of satellites belonging to a common host, by studying their distribution and motion. This can potentially reveal connections in the formation and evolution history of different satellite galaxies, but can also be used to test cosmological models. One...
I will discuss the possibility that the black-hole binary detected by LIGO may be a signature of primordial black hole dark matter. If two BHs in a galactic halo pass sufficiently close, they radiate enough energy in gravitational waves to become gravitationally bound. Curiously, the expected merger rate from these objects overlaps with that predicted by LIGO. Although a PBH dark matter...
Dwarf galaxies are among the best laboratories for exploring the nature of dark matter: their high dark matter content, coupled with the large number of dwarfs in close proximity to us, enable a variety of tests that are not possible with other astrophysical systems. I will discuss our efforts to understand unique signatures of both standard cold dark matter and various alternatives (including...
The first phase of stellar evolution in the history of the Universe may be Dark Stars (DS), powered by dark matter heating rather than by nuclear fusion. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles which are their own antipartners can collect inside the first stars and annihilate to produce a heat source that powers the stars. A new stellar phase results, a Dark Star, which lasts as long as there is...
The so-called Fermi-excess in the diffuse Galactic gamma-ray sky is observed as a shift of the maximum in the E^2 weighted gamma-ray spectrum from 0.7 GeV to around 2 GeV. Such a shift can be explained by the contribution of a new source with a spectrum peaking at 2 GeV. Three sources have been proposed: a dark matter (DM) annihilation signal, a signal from millisecond pulsars (MSPs), a...
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) have been the target of cosmic ray experiments for decades. AMS-02 is the first experiment which can realistically probe WIMP annihilation signals in the antiproton channel. Due to the tiny experimental errors, uncertainties in the astrophysical background have become the most limiting factor for dark matter detection. I will use the combination of...
GAPS (General Antiparticle Spectrometer) is a balloon-based indirect dark matter search experiment that focuses on low-energy antiprotons and antideuterons produced by dark matter annihilation and decay in the Galactic halo. The predicted antideuteron flux from well-motivated dark matter models can be more than two orders of magnitude larger than the one produced by the cosmic-ray interaction...
Recent astronomical observations, indicating that the universe at high redshfts, z=5 -10, is unexpectedly densely populated by bright galaxies, supermassive black holes (quasars), gamma-bursters, supernovae and is very dusty, are reviewed. It is argued that the origin of these early formed objects is at odds with the conventional theory of their formations. Moreover, similar and probably...
SUSY with radiatively driven naturalness combines solutions to the gauge hierarchy problem, the strong CP problem, the SUSY mu problem and the Little Hierarchy problem. Dark matter is expected to be a higgsino-like WIMP plus SUSY DFSZ axion admixture where axions typically dominate the dark matter abundance. Nonetheless, prospects are better for WIMP detection than for axion detection. If...
The absence of confirmed signal in dark matter (DM) direct detection (DD) may suggest a weak coupling between DM and the first generation quarks. In this work we consider a real scalar dark matter $S$ which has new Yukawa interactions with charm $c$ and top quark $t$ via a vector-like fermion mediator $\psi$. By setting the Higgs portal to be negligible, we focus on the new Yukawa...
In this talk I will present a new halo-independent formalism for the analysis of direct dark matter detection experiments which proves that: either the dark matter speed distribution or the Galactic dark matter velocity distribution that maximizes any likelihood can always be expressed in terms of a small number of delta functions. The aforementioned proof, based on the Fenchel-Eggleston...
Halo-independent methods in the analysis of WIMP detection data have up to now provided separate constraints for specific integrals of the WIMP velocity distribution, and have assumed separate velocity distributions for the modulated and unmodulated rates. This has hindered the statistical interpretation of the results and has restricted the analysis to the comparison of experiments. I have...
Flipped SU(5) is embedded in a no-scale supergravity framework and discuss its predictions for cosmic microwave background observables which are Starobinsky-like, with a possible variation in the ratio r of the tensor to scalar perturbations. I'll discuss the model's predictions for neutrino masses,and show their dependence on the inflaton mass,thus correlating the heavy right-handed neutrino...
The next-generation B-factory experiment Belle II at the upgraded KEKB accelerator, SuperKEKB, will start physics data taking in 2018. It is an asymmetric e+e- collider that will operate with 40x the instantaneous luminosity of KEKB/Belle and aims to collect 50 times more data in total.
Belle II offers the possibility to search for a large variety of dark sector particles in the GeV mass...
Electroweak multiplets are an archetypal candidate for the WIMP paradigm of thermal dark matter. Examples include the Wino and Higgsino of supersymmetry, as well as the fermion quintet of Minimal Dark Matter. We discuss the prospective limits and discovery reach at the proposed future lepton collider CLIC on these and similar models. When the components of the multiplet are approximately...
The Axion Dark Matter eXperiment (ADMX) is a DOE "Generation 2" direct-detection dark matter project searching for $\mu$eV axions. Exploiting the inverse primakoff effect where $a \rightarrow \gamma^{*} \gamma $, the experiment utilizes a tunable, high-Q cavity, submerged in a 8 Tesla magnetic field and looks for the resonant conversion of axions into microwave photons. Over the last decade...
It has now been proven that the Universe is mostly filled with what we cannot see; dark matter. The presence of dark matter had profound consequences on the evolution of the Universe. The Standard Model does not accommodate a suitable dark matter candidate. Therefore the existence of dark matter is a crucial phenomenological evidence for physics Beyond the Standard Model. The pressing goal of...
We propose a new strategy to search for dark matter axions in the mass range of 40–400μeV by introducing dielectric haloscopes, which consist of dielectric disks placed in a magnetic field. When an interface between different dielectric media is inside a magnetic field, the oscillating axion field acts as a source of electromagnetic waves, which emerge in both directions perpendicular to the...
The axion is a well-motivated hypothetical particle which candidates to constitute the observed cold dark matter budget. In this talk, I first revise the properties of the axion in light of current bounds from astrophysics and cosmology, and give some prospects for future searches. I then discuss some mechanisms to relax such bounds. I conclude by presenting a possible detection challenge,...
Recently there has been much interest in the spatial distribution of light scalar dark matter, especially axions, throughout the universe. When the local gravitational interactions between the scalar modes are sufficiently rapid, it can cause the field to re-organize into a Bose-Einstein condensate of gravitationally bound clumps. These clumps are stable when only gravitation is included, but...
I overview the dark matter model offering a very natural explanation of two (naively unrelated) problems in cosmology: the observed relation $\Omega_{\rm DM}\sim\Omega_{\rm visible}~~$ and the observed asymmetry between matter and antimatter in the Universe, known as the ``baryogenesis" problem. In this framework, both types of matter (dark and visible) have the same QCD origin, form at...
Low-mass bosonic dark matter particles produced after the Big Bang may form an oscillating classical field, which can be sought for in a variety of low-energy laboratory experiments based on spectroscopic, interferometric and magnetometric techniques, as well as in various astrophysical phenomena. Dark bosons can also mediate anomalous fifth forces between ordinary-matter particles that can be...
The Dark Matter Radio (DM Radio) is a sensitive search for sub-eV axion and hidden photon dark matter over a wide mass range. While Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) have been the primary focus of direct detection for several decades, there has been growing interest in searching for ultra-light-field candidates such as the hidden photon (spin 1 boson) and axion (spin 0 boson). DM...
Direct detection experiments search for nuclear recoil events induced by the non-relativistic scattering of Milky Way dark matter (DM) particles in low-background detectors. Current strategies for the experimental analysis and theoretical interpretation of direct detection experiments focus on two parameters: the DM particle mass, and the cross-section for DM-nucleon scattering computed under...
We consider an alternative to WIMP cold dark matter (CDM), ultralight bosonic dark matter (m ≥ 10^(-22) eV) described by a complex scalar field (SFDM) with global U(1) symmetry, for which the comoving particle number density is conserved after particle production during standard reheating. We allow for a repulsive self-interaction. For complex SFDM, structure formation is CDM-like on large...
There is great interest in scalar-field dark matter (SFDM) comprised of ultralight bosons, in which structure formation is supposed to be like standard CDM on large scales but suppressed on small scales by quantum effects. We study the case of complex SFDM, with a global U(1)-symmetry, for which the comoving boson number density is conserved after reheating when SFDM emerged. In addition, we...
We analyze a low energy effective model of Dark Matter in which the thermal relic density is provided by a singlet Majorana fermion which interacts with the Higgs fields via higher dimensional operators. Direct detection signatures may be reduced if so-called blind spot solutions exist, which naturally appear in models with extended Higgs sectors. Explicit mass terms for the Majorana fermion...
The Particle and Astrophysical Xenon (PandaX) is a series of xenon-based ultra-low background experiments in the China Jinping underground Laboratory, aiming to search for Weakly-interacting massive particles (WIMPs) and to study neutrino properties. PandaX-II, with a 580-kg liquid xenon TPC currently under operation, is one of the leading WIMP direct detection experiment. In this talk, I...
The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) detector was a dual-phase xenon TPC with an active mass of 250 kg searching for Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) dark matter via direct detection. It operated at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota from 2012-2016. This talk will report results from several new analyses: an effective field theory approach to explore...
DarkSide uses a dual-phase Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers to search for WIMP dark matter. The talk will present the latest result from the current experiment, DarkSide-50, running since mid 2015 a 50-kg-active-mass TPC, filled with argon from an underground source measured to contain lower Ar-39, the largest source of background, than atmospheric argon by a factor of >1000.
The DAMA/LIBRA set-up (about 250 kg highly radiopure NaI(Tl)) is currently in data taking at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the I.N.F.N. in its phase2. This experiment is dedicated to the investigation of Dark Matter (DM) particles in the galactic halo mainly by exploiting the model independent Dark Matter annual modulation signature. DAMA/LIBRA collected in its ?rst phase data over 7...
EDELWEISS is a phased direct Dark Matter search program looking for WIMPs in the GeV-TeV mass range with cryogenic Ge mono-crystals. The simultaneous measurement of heat via thermal sensors (NTDs) and ionization signals allows for discrimination of nuclear against electron recoils. We present our results of the first stage of EDELWEISS-III and discuss the currently ongoing R&D approaches and...
The third stage of the Cryogenic Rare Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers (CRESST-III) searches directly for interactions of dark matter with ordinary matter
at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy. The detector targets of CRESST-III are CaWO_4 crystals which are operated as cryogenic calorimeters at O(10)mK. The main event signature for a potential dark...
Improvements in detector technologies have allowed direct detection experiments access to lower detection thresholds. In the case of the SuperCDMS Soudan experiment, this additional reach has been facilitated by applying strong electric potentials across each detector and taking advantage of the Neganov-Trofimov-Luke (NTL) effect to amplify ionization signals. For dark matter models with...
DEAP-3600 is a single phase dark matter detector filled with 3.3 tonnes of liquid argon (LAr). The active volume is viewed by an array of 255 PMTs, separated from the LAr by 50 cm of acrylic. The whole detector is submerged in a large cylindrical water Cherenkov detector, which acts as a muon veto. DEAP-3600 began operations in May 2016, and has been running stably since November 2016....
The ArDM experiment, installed in the Canfranc underground laboratory LSC in Spain, is the first tonne-scale dual phase Liquid Argon detector designed for direct Dark Matter detection. Due to its size it represents an important milestone in the world wide effort for the development of large LAr Dark Matter detectors. The results from a commissioning run in the single phase operational mode...
Millimeter-thick charge-coupled devices (CCDs) are outstanding particle detectors. Although initially developed for near-infrared astronomy, the low pixel noise also makes them the most sensitive detectors to signals from ionizing radiation. By virtue of their very low energy threshold (<100 eV of ionizing energy) and their unique capabilities for background characterization based on their...
Detecting the elusive WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) proposed to explain the dark matter has shown to be a very challenging effort. The study of distinctive features in the WIMP signal allowing disentangling it from other backgrounds is an important asset in this search. The motion of the Earth around the Sun will produce a modulation in the dark matter interaction rate along the...
SABRE is an experiment that is being developed to search for dark matter with an array of NaI(Tl) scintillating crystals. A primary goal is to test the DAMA-LIBRA modulation signal claimed to be evidence for dark matter. The experiment will employ NaI(Tl) crystals with low levels of internal radioactivity in an active shield of liquid scintillator and water. In the past two years SABRE has...
Right-handed or sterile neutrinos in the keV mass range have been proposed as an explanation of the galactic dark matter. Although direct detection of these is not feasible at the present time, the existence of such neutrinos could be demonstrated in the laboratory as rare events in atomic K-capture, emitting a neutrino together with atomic recoil, the K-vacancy then filled from a higher...
NEWS-G (New Experiments With Spheres-Gas) is a direct dark matter detection experiment using Spherical Proportional Counters (SPCs). It uses light noble gases to search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) down to the sub-GeV/c$^2$ mass region. The NEWS-G project builds on the experience gathered with the SEDINE detector, a 60cm SPC which has been operating for several years at...
We study novel scenarios where thermal dark matter (DM) can be efficiently captured in the Sun and annihilate into boosted dark matter. We study scenarios which can yield viable thermal relic DM with masses O(1)-O(100) GeV. Taking advantage of the energetic deposits that arise when the boosted DM scatters off matter, we propose a detection strategy which uses large volume neutrino detectors....
The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is currently searching for neutrinoless double-beta decays in germanium-76 with the aim of demonstrating the feasibility to deploy a tonne-scale experiment in a phased and modular fashion. It consists of two modular arrays of natural and $^{76}$Ge-enriched germanium detectors totaling 44.1 kg, of which 29.7 kg is enriched, operating at the 4850' level of the Sanford...
The Heavy Photon Search (HPS) experiment at Jefferson Lab is searching for a new U(1) vector boson ("heavy photon", "dark photon" or A') in the mass range of 20-500 MeV/c2. An A' in this mass range is theoretically favorable and may also mediate dark matter interactions. The A' couples to the ordinary photon through kinetic mixing, which induces its coupling to electric charge. Since heavy...
DarkSide-20k is a 20 tonne fiducial mass liquid argon TPC that will perform an instrumental background-free search for WIMP dark matter. The TPC will be outfitted with more than 125,000 silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) grouped into 5210 single-channel, $25\ {\rm cm}^2$ photosensors that are sensitive to single photoelectrons. We will present the performance of the photosensor and associated...
The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) detector is a next generation dark matter detector that will use a 7 active tonne liquid xenon time projection chamber (LXe-TPC) to search for dark matter particles, among other rare phenomena. The LZ project was approved in 2014 to continue toward fabrication and is now in the construction phase. In this talk, I will give an update on the current status and schedule of the...
The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter experiment will consist of 7 active tonnes of liquid xenon sensitive to the nuclear recoils induced by impinging weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). Backgrounds to a WIMP signal tend to populate the boundaries of the LZ sensitive volume, where gamma-rays and neutrons from nearby material can enter, scatter once, and exit. The Outer Detector (OD) of...
In many experiments searching for rare nuclear processes, like direct interactions of cold dark matter particles, an extremely low radioactive contamination level of the detector target and the surrounding materials has to be achieved. This is only possible after implementation of an extensive R&D program and careful material screening with appropriate devices. Selected ultra-sensitive...
The Argon Response to Ionization and Scintillation (ARIS) experiment utilized monoenergetic fixed-angle neutron and gamma scatters to characterize liquid argon response to nuclear and electronic recoils for support of direct dark matter detection experiments with a liquid argon target. The relative scintillation efficiency for low energy single-scatter nuclear recoils and the recombination...
The MiniCLEAN (Cryogenic Low-Energy Astrophysics with Noble liquid) dark matter experiment will exploit a single-phase liquid argon detector instrumented with 92 photomultiplier tubes placed in the cryogen with 4-$\pi$ coverage of a 500 kg (150 kg) target (fiducial) mass. The detector design strategy emphasizes scalability to target masses of order 10 tons or more. During the initial cooling...
LUX (Large Underground Xenon) is a retired 250 kg liquid xenon dark matter direct detection experiment. Determination of radiogenic backgrounds is essential for accurate extraction of signals and optimization of detector sensitivity. In this talk, we present analyses of backgrounds in the LUX detector, extending the energy scale beyond what is documented in previous publications. This work...
The Xenon Breakdown Apparatus (XeBrA) is a 5-liter detector designed to study high voltage behavior in noble liquids, located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. XeBrA is designed to characterize the dependence of electric field breakdown on electrode properties in both liquid argon and liquid xenon. Electrodes may be tested up to 30 cm$^2$ in area, while varying cathode-anode separation...
The next stage of the Darkside program for direct dark matter searches will involve a global collaboration from all the current Argon based experiments. DarkSide-20k has been recently approved and is based on a 20-tonne fiducial mass TPC with SiPM based photosensors and filled with Argon from an underground source. It is designed to have a background well below that from coherent scattering of...
The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment is a Generation 2 multi-tonne dark matter direct detection experiment that will operate 4850 feet underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. It will use a liquid xenon TPC with an active mass of 7 tonnes to search for the low energy signatures from interactions with WIMP dark matter in our galactic halo and other rare physics...
The XENON1T experiment is a search for dark matter, operating at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso since about one year and sensitive to possible rare interactions of dark matter particles with ordinary matter. The XENON1T experimental setup and infrastructure were designed to allow for a fast upgrade of its central detector, a two-phase xenon Time Projection Chamber (TPC). The XENONnT...
The DARWIN project aims at a 50 ton ultimate liquid xenon dark matter detector and this talk will cover R&D efforts as well as the physics potential. DARWIN will search WIMPs in a wide mass-range until neutrino interactions become an irreducible background. It can search in addition for axions and for neutrinoless double-beta decay of 136-Xe. It can also measure the low-energy solar neutrino...
With WIMP-nucleon scattering limits approaching the neutrino floor, and coherent neutrino-nucleon scattering experimentally established, there is renewed interest in directional detectors as a means to penetrate the neutrino floor. The CYGNUS collaboration aims to deploy multiple gas Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) to accomplish this. I will review recent work carried out by the collaboration,...
The DarkSide-50 two-phase liquid argon (LAr) detector has been searching for weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter for more than three years, and during last two and a half years has been successfully operating the detector with argon that was extracted from underground CO$_2$ wells in Cortez, Colorado in the US. This source of argon has been long shielded from cosmic rays...
The activity on direct search for dark matter at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (LSC) is reviewed. At LSC, presently, ANAIS is in data taking to probe the DAMA/LIBRA longstanding result on annual modulation. The two-phase ton-scale liquid argon detector ArDM is in data taking. ArDM will turn into a crucial facility for DarkSide-20k by the end of 2018. More R&D activities are underway...
Direct searches for dark matter candidates require deep underground research facilities and specialised low background infrastructure and associated capabilities. As the dark matter community develops ever more sensitive detectors, the requirements placed on deep underground facilities and these capabilities become even more stringent. This talk will review recent progress within deep...
