Speaker
Description
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are considered one of the most promising candidates for dark matter (DM) and could potentially be detected through their interactions with standard model particles.
The DarkSide program has pioneered the development of two-phase argon time projection chambers (TPCs) for direct DM searches, employing low-radioactivity argon extracted from underground reservoirs (UAr). The first experiment in the program, DarkSide-50, operated with a 50 kg UAr target and achieved world-leading sensitivity to low-mass WIMP candidates. The next phase of the program, the DarkSide-20k experiment, is currently under construction at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS). It will feature a 50-tonne active (20-tonne fiducial) UAr target instrumented as a two-phase TPC, incorporating a novel acrylic-based design and custom-developed cryogenic silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) arrays for efficient detection of argon scintillation light. The TPC will be enclosed within an active UAr neutron veto housed in the same vessel, which is itself surrounded by a larger atmospheric-argon veto designed to tag cosmogenic backgrounds and provide additional passive shielding.
This talk will present an overview of the DarkSide-20k detector design and its current construction status, and will conclude with a discussion of its projected physics reach.
| Primary Abstract Topic | Experiment: WIMPs |
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