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At least 73 records · Page 4

Development of low background CsI(Tl) and NaI(Tl) crystals for WIMP search

We have developed low background CsI(Tl) and NaI(Tl) crystals to search for weakly interacting massive particles as well as to verify the origin of the annual modulation signal observed by the DAMA/LIBRA experiment. Extensive studies about the contamination mechanisim of {sup 137}Cs in CsI powder lead to the growth of ultra-low-background CsI(Tl) crystals. Similar approaches for NaI(Tl) crystals have been applied to reduce internal backgrounds to less than 0.5 counts/kg/day/keV. Status and understanding of backgrounds and background reduction in NaI(Tl) crystals will be discussed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

WIMP dark matter in the parity solution to the strong CP problem

We extend the Standard Model (SM) with parity symmetry, motivated by the strong CP problem and dark matter. In our model, parity symmetry is conserved at high energy by introducing a mirror sector with the extra gauge symmetry, SU(2) R × U(1) R . The charges of SU(2) R × U(1) R are assigned to the mirror fields in the same way as in the SM, but the chiralities of the mirror fermions are opposite to respect the parity symmetry. The strong CP problem is resolved, since the mirror quarks are also charged under the SU(3) c in the SM. In the minimal setup, the mirror gauge symmetry leads to stable colored particles which would be inconsistent with the observed data, so that we introduce two scalars in order to deplete the stable colored particles. Interestingly, one of the scalars becomes stable because of the gauge symmetry and therefore can be a good dark matter candidate. We especially study the phenomenology relevant to the dark matter, i.e. thermal relic density, direct and indirect searches for the dark matter. The bounds from the LHC experiment and the Landau pole are also taken into account. As a result, we find that a limited region is viable: the mirror up quark mass is around [600 GeV, 3 TeV] and the relative mass difference between the dark matter and the mirror up quark or electron is about O(1–10%). We also discuss the neutrino sector and show that the right-handed neutrinos in the mirror sector can increase the effective number of neutrinos or dark radiation by 0.14.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Getting a THUMP from a WIMP

Producing an acceptable thermal relic abundance of dark matter with masses >> 10 2 TeV is a challenge. We propose a novel mechanism where GeV-scale states establish a tiny thermal relic abundance for dark matter, which is later promoted to ultra massive status by a very light scalar. We refer to this dark matter as a THermal Ultra Massive Particle (THUMP). Direct detection of THUMPs can be naturally expected due to large scattering cross sections mediated by low mass states that couple THUMPs to the Standard Model. Our model generically leads to signals for the associated GeV-scale states at accelerator experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

WIMP dark matter and unitarity-conserving inflation via a gauge singlet scalar

A gauge singlet scalar with non-minimal coupling to gravity can drive inflation and later freeze out to become cold dark matter. We explore this idea by revisiting inflation in the singlet direction (S-inflation) and Higgs Portal Dark Matter in light of the Higgs discovery, limits from LUX and observations by Planck. We show that large regions of parameter space remain viable, so that successful inflation is possible and the dark matter relic abundance can be reproduced. Moreover, the scalar singlet can stabilise the electroweak vacuum and at the same time overcome the problem of unitarity-violation during inflation encountered by Higgs Inflation, provided the singlet is a real scalar. The 2-σ Planck upper bound on n{sub s} imposes that the singlet mass is below 2 TeV, so that almost the entire allowed parameter range can be probed by XENON1T.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Prospects for detecting heavy WIMP dark matter with the Cherenkov Telescope Array: The Wino and Higgsino

TeV-scale particles that couple to the standard model through the weak force represent a compelling class of dark matter candidates. The search for such weakly interacting massive particles has already spanned multiple decades, and whilst it has yet to provide any definitive evidence for their existence, viable parameter space remains. In this paper, we show that the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) has significant sensitivity to uncharted parameter space at the TeV mass scale. To do so, we focus on two prototypical dark matter candidates, the Wino and Higgsino. Additionally, sensitivity forecasts for both models are performed including the irreducible background from misidentified cosmic rays, as well as a range of estimates for the Galactic emissions at TeV energies. For each candidate, we find substantial expected improvements over existing bounds from current imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. In detail, for the Wino we find a sensitivity improvement of roughly an order of magnitude in <σ v>, whereas for the Higgsino we demonstrate that CTA has the potential to become the first experiment that has sensitivity to the thermal candidate. Taken together, these enhanced sensitivities demonstrate the discovery potential for dark matter at CTA in the 1–100 TeV mass range.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗