Session B2: Dark Matter I

XENON1T - Direct Dark Matter Search on the Verge of a New Detector Generation

The XENON dark matter project aims at finding direct evidence for the scattering of weakly interacting massive dark matter particles (WIMPs) with target nuclei in an ultra-low background liquid xenon detector. After the successful operation of the XENON100 instrument -- for many years the world's most sensitive deep underground WIMP detector -- the next generation detector XENON1T is presently being built at the Italian Gran Sasso underground facility. The commissioning and first data taking of the experiment are expected to start in 2015. The talk will focus on the special challenges related to a ton-scale liquid xenon detector, provide a comprehensive overview of the ongoing construction phase, and discuss the prospects and projected physics reach of the experiment.   

Dark Sector Searches in LArTPC Experiments

Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) experiments, which allow for excellent event characterization and topological visualization, are sensitive to the distinct signatures of theorized low-energy dark sector phenomena. With the unique technology of LArTPC experiments, it is possible to perform a quasi-model independent dark sector search that can encompass a number of models. This talk will discuss the dark sector search in LArTPC experiments as well as the sensitivity of the MicroBooNE and Lar1-ND experiments to dark sector signatures predicted by leptophobic models, which has been evaluated based on simulated signal and background event rates.   

Results from the XENON100 Experiment

The XENON100 detector, located at the LNGS Laboratory in Italy, has been taking dark matter data between 2008 and 2014, producing some of the best limits in the field thanks to its low background and large sensitive volume. In this talk we present the results from the last science run of the detector and the preliminary results from the combined exposure of all the science data, as well as the status of the ongoing analyses with these data.   

Using XENON100 Data to Probe Dark Matter-Induced Electronic Recoils as an Explanation of the DAMA/LIBRA Anomaly

We use data from the XENON100 dark matter search to test the claim of the DAMA/LIBRA collaboration of a dark matter-induced signal in their detector. In the same (2 ? 6) keV window, the total background spectrum in XENON100 is lower than the total background in DAMA/LIBRA, and even lower than the observed DAMA/LIBRA modulation amplitude. We test three representative dark matter models that induce electronic recoils, in particular, WIMPs coupling to electrons through axial-vector interactions, mirror dark matter, and luminous dark matter. Furthermore, we analyze XENON100 data to set the first direct limit on WIMP axial-vector coupling to electrons.