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Register a new userDMTPC: A dark matter detector with directional sensitivity
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By correlating nuclear recoil directions with the Earths direction of motion through the Galaxy, a directional dark matter detector can unambiguously detect Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), even in the presence of backgrounds. Here, we describe the Dark Matter Time-Projection Chamber (DMTPC) detector, a TPC filled with CF4 gas at low pressure (0.1 atm). Using this detector, we have measured the vector direction (head-tail) of nuclear recoils down to energies of 100 keV with an angular resolution of <15 degrees. To study our detector backgrounds, we have operated in a basement laboratory on the MIT campus for several months. We are currently building a new, high-radiopurity detector for deployment underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant facility in New Mexico.
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The Dark Matter Time Projection Chamber (DMTPC) experiment uses CF_4 gas at low pressure (0.1 atm) to search for the directional signature of Galactic WIMP dark matter. We describe the DMTPC apparatus and summarize recent results from a 35.7 g-day exposure surface run at MIT. After nuclear recoil cuts are applied to the data, we find 105 candidate events in the energy range 80 - 200 keV, which is consistent with the expected cosmogenic neutron background. Using this data, we obtain a limit on the spin-dependent WIMP-proton cross-section of 2.0 times 10^{-33} cm^2 at a WIMP mass of 115 GeV/c^2. This detector is currently deployed underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.
The Dark Matter Time Projection Chamber (DMTPC) is a low pressure (75 Torr CF4) 10 liter detector capable of measuring the vector direction of nuclear recoils with the goal of directional dark matter detection. In this paper we present the first dark matter limit from DMTPC. In an analysis window of 80-200 keV recoil energy, based on a 35.7 g-day exposure, we set a 90% C.L. upper limit on the spin-dependent WIMP-proton cross section of 2.0 x 10^{-33} cm^{2} for 115 GeV/c^2 dark matter particle mass.
We examine the sensitivity of a large scale two-phase liquid argon detector to the directionality of the dark matter signal. This study was performed under the assumption that, above 50 keV of recoil energy, one can determine (with some resolution) the direction of the recoil nucleus without head-tail discrimination, as suggested by past studies that proposed to exploit the dependence of columnar recombination on the angle between the recoil nucleus direction and the electric field. In this paper we study the differential interaction recoil rate as a function of the recoil direction angle with respect to the zenith for a detector located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso and we determine its diurnal and seasonal modulation. Using a likelihood-ratio based approach we show that, with the angular information alone, 100 events are enough to reject the isotropic hypothesis at three standard deviation level. For an exposure of 100 tonne years this would correspond to a spin independent WIMP-nucleon cross section of about 10^-46 cm^2 at 200 GeV WIMP mass. The results presented in this paper provide strong motivation for the experimental determination of directional recoil effects in two-phase liquid argon detectors.
Directional detection of galactic Dark Matter is a promising search strategy for discriminating geniune WIMP events from background ones. We present technical progress on gaseous detectors as well as recent phenomenological studies, allowing the design and construction of competitive experiments.
Directional detection of Dark Matter allows for unambiguous direct detection of WIMPs as well as discrimination between various Dark Matter models in our galaxy. The DMTPC detector is a low-pressure TPC with optical readout designed for directional direct detection of WIMPs. By using CF4 gas as the active material, the detector also has excellent sensitivity to spin-dependent interactions of Dark Matter on protons.
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