11–13 May 2026
University of Pittsburgh
US/Eastern timezone

Strategies for Next-Generation sub-GeV Direct Detection

11 May 2026, 17:30
15m
David Lawrence Hall 120, University of Pittsburgh

David Lawrence Hall 120, University of Pittsburgh

Speaker

Benjamin Lillard (Pennsylvania State University)

Description

Anisotropic direct detection experiments can discover dark matter even in the presence of irreducible Standard Model backgrounds, by using daily modulation to isolate the dark matter signal. Our new ab initio molecular physics package, SCarFFF, makes it possible to sift through millions of molecules to find the ones best suited for dark matter detection. What properties should we be looking for? In this talk, I show how an ensemble of different materials could provide the foundation for an unambiguous discovery of dark matter, and I explain why the ideal detector should include both parity-breaking and parity-symmetric materials.

Authors

Benjamin Lillard (Pennsylvania State University) Carlos Blanco

Presentation materials

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