We report constraints on spin-independent weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP)-nucleon scattering using a 3.35e4 kg-day exposure of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment. A dual-phase ...xenon time projection chamber with 250 kg of active mass is operated at the Sanford Underground Research Facility under Lead, South Dakota (USA). With roughly fourfold improvement in sensitivity for high WIMP masses relative to our previous results, this search yields no evidence of WIMP nuclear recoils. At a WIMP mass of 50 GeV/c^2, WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross sections above 2.2e-46 cm^2 are excluded at the 90% confidence level. When combined with the previously reported LUX exposure, this exclusion strengthens to 1.1e-46 cm^2 at 50 GeV/c^2.
The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment is a dual-phase liquid xenon time projection chamber (TPC) operating at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. A calibration of ...nuclear recoils in liquid xenon was performed \(\textit{in situ}\) in the LUX detector using a collimated beam of mono-energetic 2.45 MeV neutrons produced by a deuterium-deuterium (D-D) fusion source. The nuclear recoil energy from the first neutron scatter in the TPC was reconstructed using the measured scattering angle defined by double-scatter neutron events within the active xenon volume. We measured the absolute charge (\(Q_{y}\)) and light (\(L_{y}\)) yields at an average electric field of 180 V/cm for nuclear recoil energies spanning 0.7 to 74 keV and 1.1 to 74 keV, respectively. This calibration of the nuclear recoil signal yields will permit the further refinement of liquid xenon nuclear recoil signal models and, importantly for dark matter searches, clearly demonstrates measured ionization and scintillation signals in this medium at recoil energies down to \(\mathcal{O}\)(1 keV).
This work presents an analysis of monoenergetic electronic recoil peaks in the dark-matter-search and calibration data from the first underground science run of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) ...detector. Liquid xenon charge and light yields for electronic recoil energies between 5.2 and 661.7 keV are measured, as well as the energy resolution for the LUX detector at those same energies. Additionally, there is an interpretation of existing measurements and descriptions of electron-ion recombination fluctuations in liquid xenon as limiting cases of a more general liquid xenon re- combination fluctuation model. Measurements of the standard deviation of these fluctuations at monoenergetic electronic recoil peaks exhibit a linear dependence on the number of ions for energy deposits up to 661.7 keV, consistent with previous LUX measurements between 2-16 keV with \(^3\)H. We highlight similarities in liquid xenon recombination for electronic and nuclear recoils with a comparison of recombination fluctuations measured with low-energy calibration data.
We present constraints on weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP)-nucleus scattering from the 2013 data of the Large Underground Xenon dark matter experiment, including ...\(1.4\times10^{4}\;\mathrm{kg\; day}\) of search exposure. This new analysis incorporates several advances: single-photon calibration at the scintillation wavelength, improved event-reconstruction algorithms, a revised background model including events originating on the detector walls in an enlarged fiducial volume, and new calibrations from decays of an injected tritium \(\beta\) source and from kinematically constrained nuclear recoils down to 1.1 keV. Sensitivity, especially to low-mass WIMPs, is enhanced compared to our previous results which modeled the signal only above a 3 keV minimum energy. Under standard dark matter halo assumptions and in the mass range above 4 \(\mathrm{GeV}\,c^{-2}\), these new results give the most stringent direct limits on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross section. The 90% C.L. upper limit has a minimum of 0.6 zb at 33 \(\mathrm{GeV}\,c^{-2}\) WIMP mass.
We present the first experimental constraints on the spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon elastic cross sections from LUX data acquired in 2013. LUX is a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber operating at ...the Sanford Underground Research Facility (Lead, South Dakota), which is designed to observe the recoil signature of galactic WIMPs scattering from xenon nuclei. A profile likelihood ratio analysis of \(1.4~\times~10^{4}~\text{kg}\cdot~\text{days}\) of fiducial exposure allows 90% CL upper limits to be set on the WIMP-neutron (WIMP-proton) cross section of \(\sigma_n~=~9.4~\times~10^{-41}~\text{cm}^2\) (\(\sigma_p~=~2.9~\times~10^{-39}~\text{cm}^2\)) at 33 GeV/c\(^2\). The spin-dependent WIMP-neutron limit is the most sensitive constraint to date.
We present measurements of the electron-recoil (ER) response of the LUX dark matter detector based upon 170,000 highly pure and spatially-uniform tritium decays. We reconstruct the tritium energy ...spectrum using the combined energy model and find good agreement with expectations. We report the average charge and light yields of ER events in liquid xenon at 180 V/cm and 105 V/cm and compare the results to the NEST model. We also measure the mean charge recombination fraction and its fluctuations, and we investigate the location and width of the LUX ER band. These results provide input to a re-analysis of the LUX Run3 WIMP search.
LUX is a two-phase (liquid/gas) xenon time projection chamber designed to detect nuclear recoils resulting from interactions with dark matter particles. Signals from the detector are processed with ...an FPGA-based digital trigger system that analyzes the incoming data in real-time, with just a few microsecond latency. The system enables first pass selection of events of interest based on their pulse shape characteristics and 3D localization of the interactions. It has been shown to be >99% efficient in triggering on S2 signals induced by only few extracted liquid electrons. It is continuously and reliably operating since its full underground deployment in early 2013. This document is an overview of the systems capabilities, its inner workings, and its performance.
The design and performance of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) detector is described as of March 2015 in this Conceptual Design Report. LZ is a second-generation dark-matter detector with the potential for ...unprecedented sensitivity to weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) of masses from a few GeV/c2 to hundreds of TeV/c2. With total liquid xenon mass of about 10 tonnes, LZ will be the most sensitive experiment for WIMPs in this mass region by the end of the decade. This report describes in detail the design of the LZ technical systems. Expected backgrounds are quantified and the performance of the experiment is presented. The LZ detector will be located at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota. The organization of the LZ Project and a summary of the expected cost and current schedule are given.
The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment aims to detect rare low-energy interactions from Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). The radiogenic backgrounds in the LUX detector ...have been measured and compared with Monte Carlo simulation. Measurements of LUX high-energy data have provided direct constraints on all background sources contributing to the background model. The expected background rate from the background model for the 85.3 day WIMP search run is \((2.6\pm0.2_{\textrm{stat}}\pm0.4_{\textrm{sys}})\times10^{-3}\)~events~keV\(_{ee}^{-1}\)~kg\(^{-1}\)~day\(^{-1}\) in a 118~kg fiducial volume. The observed background rate is \((3.6\pm0.4_{\textrm{stat}})\times10^{-3}\)~events~keV\(_{ee}^{-1}\)~kg\(^{-1}\)~day\(^{-1}\), consistent with model projections. The expectation for the radiogenic background in a subsequent one-year run is presented.
LUX, the world's largest dual-phase xenon time-projection chamber, with a fiducial target mass of 118 kg and 10,091 kg-days of exposure thus far, is currently the most sensitive direct dark matter ...search experiment. The initial null-result limit on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross-section was released in October 2013, with a primary scintillation threshold of 2 phe, roughly 3 keVnr for LUX. The detector has been deployed at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota, and is the first experiment to achieve a limit on the WIMP cross-section lower than \(10^{-45}\) cm\(^{2}\). Here we present a more in-depth discussion of the novel energy scale employed to better understand the nuclear recoil light and charge yields, and of the calibration sources, including the new internal tritium source. We found the LUX data to be in conflict with low-mass WIMP signal interpretations of other results.
