The Quest for Dark Matter with the XENON Project

par Elena Aprile

jeudi 25 mai 2023, 14:00 → 15:00 Europe/Paris

Salle des Séminaires (LPNHE)

What is the Dark Matter which makes 85% of the matter in the Universe? We have been asking this question for many decades and used a variety of  experimental approaches to address it,  with detectors on Earth and in space. Yet, the nature of Dark Matter remains a mystery.  An answer to this fundamental question will likely come from ongoing  and future searches with accelerators, indirect and direct detection. Detection of a Dark Matter signal in an ultra-low background  terrestrial detector will provide the most direct  evidence of its existence and will represent a ground-breaking discovery in physics and cosmology.  Among the variety of  dark matter detectors, liquid xenon time projection chambers have shown to be the most sensitive, thanks to a combination of very large target mass, ultra-low background and excellent  signal-to-noise  discrimination.  Experiments based on this technology have led the field for the past decade. I will focus on the XENON project  and its  prospects to continue to be at  the forefront  of dark matter direct detection in  the coming decade.