MOSCAB: a geyser-concept bubble chamber to be used in a dark matter search

Abstract

The MOSCAB experiment (Materia OSCura A Bolle) uses the "geyser technique", a variant of the superheated liquid technique of extreme simplicity. Operating principles of the new dark matter detector and technical solutions of the device are reported in detail. First results obtained in a series of test runs taken in laboratory demonstrate that we have successfully built and tested a geyser-concept bubble chamber that can be used in particle physics, especially in dark matter searches, and that we are ready to move underground for extensive data taking.

Effective exploitation of a geyser bubble-chamber equipment as a background-free fast neutron detector

“…= 1600 kPa), one being located in the water tank, the other inside the neck of the detector, just above the cooling section. The independent data acquisition of these nine sensors, supplied by National Instruments, is synchronised with the general DAQ, the values of both temperature and pressure being recorded every 6 s. More details can be found in the study performed by Antonicci et al [3].…”

“…To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecomm ons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Funded by SCOAP 3 .…”

“…The MOSCAB bubble-chamber detector relies on the geyser technique, a variant of the superheated liquid technique of extreme simplicity originally introduced by Hahn and Reist to detect fission fragments [1]. It was thought, designed, built and developed by Antonino Pullia and his team, to search for dark matter in the form of WIMPs through a possible spin-dependent interaction occurring with fluorine nuclei, as illustrated and discussed by Bertoni et al [2] and Antonicci et al [3]. On the other hand, the same equipment, or a simplified version of the same device, can be effectively operated to detect fast neutrons, which is the topic of the present paper.…”

Effective exploitation of a geyser bubble-chamber equipment as a background-free fast neutron detector

“…A schematic view of the MOSCAB bubble chamber is displayed in Figure 1, in which the two different configurations of the detector discussed in the present work, one equipped with a 2L vessel and the other with a 18L vessel, are shown superimposed. A detailed description of the apparatus can be found in the study performed by Antonicci et al [3].…”

“…The MOSCAB bubble-chamber detector relies on the geyser technique, a variant of the superheated liquid technique of extreme simplicity originally introduced by Hahn and Reist to detect fissions fragments [1]. It was thought, designed, built and developed by Antonino Pullia and his team, to search for dark matter in the form of WIMPs through a possible spin-dependent interaction occurring with fluorine nuclei, as illustrated and discussed by Bertoni et al [2] and Antonicci et al [3]. On the other hand, the same equipment, or a simplified version of the same device, can be effectively operated to detect fast neutrons, which is the topic of the present paper.…”