arXiv subjects

S. Hertel

Publications and source records attributed to S. Hertel.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

Snowmass 2021 Underground Facilities for the Cosmic Frontier Topical Report

Detecting dark matter directly using sensitive underground detectors is one of the most promising ways to address the question of what is dark matter. The next generation underground experiments will search for dark matter in two directions. One is to use larger target mass detectors to further probe smaller cross sections in the WIMP parameter space and the other is to probe lower mass dark matter which requires new technologies with extremely low threshold. Once dark matter is detected, experiments with directional sensitivities and experiments with longer exposure and larger target masses are needed for the time-dependent signatures, such as annual modulations, to verify their cosmic origin and to further study their properties. This report covers the underground facilities need for the next generation dark matter search experiments with noble liquids, cryogenic bolometers and other technologies.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering: Terrestrial and astrophysical applications

Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$\nu$NS) is a process in which neutrinos scatter on a nucleus which acts as a single particle. Though the total cross section is large by neutrino standards, CE$\nu$NS has long proven difficult to detect, since the deposited energy into the nucleus is $\sim$ keV. In 2017, the COHERENT collaboration announced the detection of CE$\nu$NS using a stopped-pion source with CsI detectors, followed up the detection of CE$\nu$NS using an Ar target. The detection of CE$\nu$NS has spawned a flurry of activities in high-energy physics, inspiring new constraints on beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics, and new experimental methods. The CE$\nu$NS process has important implications for not only high-energy physics, but also astrophysics, nuclear physics, and beyond. This whitepaper discusses the scientific importance of CE$\nu$NS, highlighting how present experiments such as COHERENT are informing theory, and also how future experiments will provide a wealth of information across the aforementioned fields of physics.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Analysis of the low-energy electron-recoil spectrum of the CDMS experiment

We report on the analysis of the low-energy electron-recoil spectrum from the CDMS II experiment using data with an exposure of 443.2 kg-days. The analysis provides details on the observed counting rate and possible background sources in the energy range of 2 - 8.5 keV. We find no significant excess in the counting rate above background, and compare this observation to the recent DAMA results. In the framework of a conversion of a dark matter particle into electromagnetic energy, our 90% confidence level upper limit of 0.246 events/kg/day at 3.15 keV is lower than the total rate above background observed by DAMA by 8.9$σ$. In absence of any specific particle physics model to provide the scaling in cross section between NaI and Ge, we assume a Z^2 scaling. With this assumption the observed rate in DAMA differs from the upper limit in CDMS by 6.8$σ$. Under the conservative assumption that the modulation amplitude is 6% of the total rate we obtain upper limits on the modulation amplitude a factor of ~2 less than observed by DAMA, constraining some possible interpretations of this modulation.

astro-ph.GA↗