M. G. Boulay — Page 4

arXiv2004

Direct WIMP Detection Using Scintillation Time Discrimination in Liquid Argon

Discrimination between electron and nuclear recoil events in a liquid argon scintillation detector has been demonstrated with simulations by using the differences in the scintillation photon time distribution between these classes of events. A discrimination power greater than 10^{8} is predicted for a liquid argon experiment with a 10 keV threshold, which would mitigate electron and gamma-ray backgrounds, including beta decays of 39-Ar and 42-Ar in atmospheric argon. A dark matter search using a ~2 kg argon target viewed by immersed photomultiplier tubes would allow a sensitivity to a spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross-section of ~10^{-43} cm^{2} for a 100 GeV WIMP, assuming a one-year exposure. This technique could be used to scale the target mass to the tonne scale, allowing a sensitivity of ~10^{-46} cm^{2}.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Design Constraints for a WIMP Dark Matter and pp Solar Neutrino Liquid Neon Scintillation Detector

Detailed Monte-Carlo simulations were used to evaluate the performance of a liquid neon scintillation detector for dark matter and low-energy solar neutrino interactions. A maximum-likelihood event vertex fitter including PMT time information was developed, which significantly improves position resolution over spatial-only algorithms, and substantially decreases the required detector size and achievable analysis energy threshold. The ultimate sensitivity to WIMP dark matter and the pp flux uncertainty are evaluated as a function of detector size. The dependence on the neon scintillation and PMT properties are evaluated. A 300 cm radius detector would allow a ~13 keV threshold, a pp flux uncertainty of ~1%, and limits on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross-section of ~10^{-46} cm^2 for a 100 GeV WIMP, using commercially available PMTs. Detector response calibration and background requirements for a precision pp measurement are defined. Internal radioactivity requirements for uranium, thorium, and krypton are specified, and it is shown that the PMT data could be used for an in-situ calibration of the troublesome krypton-85. A set of measurements of neon scintillation properties and PMT characteristics are outlined which will be needed in order to evaluate feasibility and fully optimize the design of a neon-based detector.

nucl-ex↗