NPA Seminar: Danielle Speller, University of California at Berkeley - Looking for Dark Matter: Searching for Annual Modulation with Cryogenic Germanium Detectors at Low Threshold

Event time: 
Thursday, May 26, 2016 - 3:45pm
Location: 
Wright Lab, EAL 108 Conference Room (EAL108) See map
268 Whitney Avenue
New Haven 06520
(Location is wheelchair accessible)
Event description: 

The identification of dark matter has become one of the most fundamental challenges in modern cosmology. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are one of the leading candidates for the undetected mass component comprising approximately 27% of the observable universe. Using high-purity germanium detectors instrumented with ionization and phonon sensors and operated at cryogenic temperatures, the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment looks for WIMP dark matter candidates by searching for an excess and annual modulation in the detected rate of nuclear recoil events in the detector. Building upon the initial search for annual modulation in CDMS II, I will discuss the recent improvements to the application of background subtraction in the modulation analysis.