Final results of the EDELWEISS-II WIMP search using a 4-kg array of cryogenic germanium detectors with interleaved electrodes

The EDELWEISS-II collaboration has completed a direct search for WIMP dark matter with an array of ten 400-g cryogenic germanium detectors in operation at the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane. The combined use of thermal phonon sensors and charge collection electrodes with an interleaved geometry enables the efficient rejection of gamma-induced radioactivity as well as near-surface interactions. A total effective exposure of 384 kg.d has been achieved, mostly coming from fourteen months of continuous operation. Five nuclear recoil candidates are observed above 20 keV, while the estimated background is 3.0 events. The result is interpreted in terms of limits on the cross-section of spin-independent interactions of WIMPs and nucleons. A cross-section of 4.4x10^-8 pb is excluded at 90%CL for a WIMP mass of 85 GeV. New constraints are also set on models where the WIMP-nucleon scattering is inelastic.

Preliminary results of a WIMP search with EDELWEISS-II cryogenic detectors

The EDELWEISS-II experiment uses cryogenic heat-and-ionization detectors in order to detect the rare interactions from possible WIMP dark matter particles on Germanium nuclei. Recently, new-generation detectors with an interleaved electrode geometry were developped and validated, enabling an outstanding rejection of gamma-rays and surface interactions. We present here preliminary results of a one-year WIMP search carried out with ten of such detectors in the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane. A sensitivity to the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross-section of 5 times 10-8 pb was achieved using a 322 kg

First results of the EDELWEISS-II WIMP search using Ge cryogenic detectors with interleaved electrodes

The EDELWEISS-II collaboration has performed a direct search for WIMP dark matter with an array of ten 400 g heat-and-ionization cryogenic detectors equipped with interleaved electrodes for the rejection of near-surface events. Six months of continuous operation at the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane have been achieved. The observation of one nuclear recoil candidate above 20 keV in an effective exposure of 144 kgd is interpreted in terms of limits on the cross-section of spin-independent interactions of WIMPs and nucleons. A cross-section of 1.0x10^-7 pb is excluded at 90%CL for a WIMP mass of 80 GeV/c2. This result demonstrates for the first time the very high background rejection capabilities of these simple and robust detectors in an actual WIMP search experiment.

Search for large-scale anisotropies with the Auger Observatory

We use more than two years of data from the Pierre Auger Observatory to search for anisotropies on large scales in different energy windows. We account for various systematics in the acceptance, in particular due to the array growth and weather variations. We present the results of analyses and consistency checks looking for patterns in the right ascension modulation of the cosmic ray distribution. No significant anisotropies of this kind are observed.