Bulletin of the American Physical Society
Annual Meeting of the Four Corners Section of the APS
Volume 57, Number 11
Friday–Saturday, October 26–27, 2012; Socorro, New Mexico
Session E1: Primordial Black Holes/Astroparticle and Dark Matter Physics |
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Chair: Paul Arendt, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Room: Macey Center Galena |
Friday, October 26, 2012 4:30PM - 4:54PM |
E1.00001: Particle Physics Implications for Astrophysics Invited Speaker: Steve Stochaj New Mexico State University's involvement in the measurement of cosmic rays (space borne energetic particles) dates back to the 1970's. Measurements of these particles can contribute to our understanding of the most energetic processes in the Universe. The talk will cover the contributions of NMSU to the measurements of the antimatter components of the cosmic radiation and the study of solar energetic particles with PAMELA, Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics. PAMELA was launched on a Russian Resurs-DK1 spacecraft into a polar orbit in June 2006 and remains operational to date. A summary of the PAMELA results and their connection to astrophysics will be given. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 26, 2012 4:54PM - 5:06PM |
E1.00002: Dynamics of Primordial Black Hole Clusters James Chisholm Primordial black holes (PBHs) that form from the collapse of density perturbations are more clustered than the underlying density field. In this talk we examine the formation of bound systems of PBHs in the early universe. These would hypothetically be the earliest gravitationally collapsed structures, forming when the universe is still radiation dominated. Depending upon the size and occupation of the clusters, PBH merging and core collapse occurs before they would have otherwise evaporated due to Hawking evaporation, leaving behind larger PBHs. This talk summarizes the results of PRD 84, 124031 (2011). [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 26, 2012 5:06PM - 5:18PM |
E1.00003: Modeling motion of a small black hole through a star or a planet Victoria Turova, Alexander Panin In some scenarios of Big Bang the fluctuations of density in early universe result in the formation of various sized primordial black holes. The black holes of mass range 10$^{10}$ -10$^{22}$ kg are suitable candidates for a dark matter (or at least for a part of it). Such black holes could from time to time pass via Solar system or Sun or even Earth. What would a trajectory of a small black hole passing through Sun or through Earth look like? Would a black hole slow down and stuck consuming matter and causing cataclysmic collapse of Earth or Sun, or would it just pass? What other effects would take place? We model computationally a motion of a small black hole moving with various initial velocities (10- 1000 km/sec) through a planet-like and a star-like body of various density distributions. The results of this modeling are presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 26, 2012 5:18PM - 5:30PM |
E1.00004: Can primordial black holes constitute dark matter? Victoria Turova, Alexander Panin In some scenarios of Big Bang the fluctuations of density in early universe result in the formation of various sized primordial black holes (BH). The black holes of mass range 10$^{10}$ -10$^{22}$ kg are good candidates for a dark matter. How many of such black holes (say, per cubic light year) are needed to constitute dark matter? Are those black holes observable? How would they move? How much gravitational waves would they radiate? Would they evaporate, or would they grow consuming interstellar matter or galactic dust? How frequent are collisions of such black holes with stars or planets and with each other? Would they consume stars and if so, how quickly? In our presentation we will give quantitative answer to these questions based on known physics. We will show that due to low number density and extremely small ``cross section'' of interaction of such BHs with visible matter they indeed are very suitable candidates for a dark matter, or at least for a part of it. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 26, 2012 5:30PM - 5:42PM |
E1.00005: The DRIFT Directional Dark Matter Detector Eric Miller The DRIFT dark matter detector is a 1 cubic meter scale TPC with direction sensitivity to WIMP recoils operating in the Boulby Mine in England. The directional sensitivity allows DRIFT to detect the sidereal modulation of the WIMP recoils and provide an unambiguous confirmation of a dark matter interaction. We present current limits from DRIFT and provide a brief update on background reduction efforts. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 26, 2012 5:42PM - 6:06PM |
E1.00006: The Search for Dark Matter with MiniCLEAN Invited Speaker: Keith Rielage The direct search for dark matter is entering a period of improved sensitivity to the hypothetical Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP). One such experiment is the MiniCLEAN detector. MiniCLEAN utilizes over 500 kg of liquid cryogen to detect nuclear recoils from WIMP dark matter with a projected sensitivity of 2$\times 10^{-45}$ cm$^{2}$ for a mass of 100 GeV. The liquid cryogen is interchangeable between argon and neon to study the A$^{2}$ dependence of the potential signal and examine backgrounds. MiniCLEAN utilizes a unique modular design with spherical geometry to maximize the light yield using cold photomultiplier tubes in a single-phase detector. Pulse shape discrimination techniques are used to separate nuclear recoil signals from electron recoil backgrounds. Assembly of the experiment has begun at SNOLAB and an update on the project will be given. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 26, 2012 6:06PM - 6:18PM |
E1.00007: GEM-based Optical TPC for Directional Dark Matter Detection Nguyen Phan, Michael Gold, Joe Landers, Robert Lauer, Eric Lee, Dinesh Loomba, John Matthews, Eric Miller The strongest signature for dark matter detection is a day-night modulation of nuclear recoil directions in the lab frame and is considered by many astrophysicists as a necessary condition for proof of the discovery of dark matter. Detector technologies that have good directional sensitivity also have excellent background discrimination as we will show. Because typical dark matter induced nuclear recoils have low energies and correspondingly short ranges, a detector with both high signal to noise and high resolution is needed. We will discuss R{\&}D efforts at UNM to construct such a detector by utilizing a CCD camera to image recoil tracks in a low pressure time projection chamber. [Preview Abstract] |
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