New ultra-sensitive radioanalytical technologies for new science

Povinec, Pavel P.

doi:10.1007/s10967-018-5787-3

Cited by 21 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 180 publications

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“…Furthermore, the shape of the track length spectra induced by radiogenic backgrounds can be calibrated by studying the track length distributions in mineral samples with large concentrations of 238 U . Finally, the 238 U concentration in a given sample can be measured using, for example, mass spectrometry or gamma ray spectroscopy [141,142]. Hence, we expect the uncertainty on the radiogenic background predictions to be much smaller, and we assign them a (relative) systematic error of ±1%.…”

Section: Backgroundsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Projections for Dark Matter Searches with Paleo-Detectors

et al. 2021

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Paleo-detectors are a proposed experimental technique to search for dark matter (DM). In lieu of the conventional approach of operating a tonne-scale real-time detector to search for DM-induced nuclear recoils, paleo-detectors take advantage of small samples of naturally occurring rocks on Earth that have been deep underground (≳5 km), accumulating nuclear damage tracks from recoiling nuclei for O(1)Gyr. Modern microscopy techniques promise the capability to read out nuclear damage tracks with nanometer resolution in macroscopic samples. Thanks to their O(1)Gyr integration times, paleo-detectors could constitute nuclear recoil detectors with keV recoil energy thresholds and 100 kilotonne-yr exposures. This combination would allow paleo-detectors to probe DM-nucleon cross sections orders of magnitude below existing upper limits from conventional direct detection experiments. In this article, we use improved background modeling and a new spectral analysis technique to update the sensitivity forecast for paleo-detectors. We demonstrate the robustness of the sensitivity forecast to the (lack of) ancillary measurements of the age of the samples and the parameters controlling the backgrounds, systematic mismodeling of the spectral shape of the backgrounds, and the radiopurity of the mineral samples. Specifically, we demonstrate that even if the uranium concentration in paleo-detector samples is 10−8 (per weight), many orders of magnitude larger than what we expect in the most radiopure samples obtained from ultra basic rock or marine evaporite deposits, paleo-detectors could still probe DM-nucleon cross sections below current limits. For DM masses ≲ 10 GeV/c2, the sensitivity of paleo-detectors could still reach down all the way to the conventional neutrino floor in a Xe-based direct detection experiment.

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Section: Backgroundsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Projections for Dark Matter Searches with Paleo-Detectors

et al. 2021

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“…15 The choice c Φ ν = 100 % is motivated by the fact that neutrinoinduced backgrounds could potentially vary by an O(1) factor over ∼ Gyr [27][28][29]. Radiogenic backgrounds, on the other hand, do not vary with time and are only controlled by C. Through a combination of direct C measurements in samples [144,145] and calibration studies with high-C samples, the shape and normalization of the radiogenic-induced background can be measured; we therefore assign c C n = 10 %. Mineral samples can be dated to few-percent accuracy using geological dating techniques [146][147][148], therefore motivating c T n = 5 %.…”

Section: Sensitivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Galactic Geology: Probing Time-Varying Dark Matter Signals with Paleo-Detectors

Baum,

DeRocco,

Edwards

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Paleo-detectors are a proposed experimental technique to search for dark matter by reading out the damage tracks caused by nuclear recoils in small samples of natural minerals. Unlike a conventional real-time direct detection experiment, paleo-detectors have been accumulating these tracks for up to a billion years. These long integration times offer a unique possibility: by reading out paleodetectors of different ages, one can explore the time-variation of signals on megayear to gigayear timescales. We investigate two examples of dark matter substructure that could give rise to such time-varying signals. First, a dark disk through which the Earth would pass every ∼45 Myr, and second, a dark matter subhalo that the Earth encountered during the past gigayear. We demonstrate that paleo-detectors are sensitive to these examples under a wide variety of experimental scenarios, even in the presence of substantial background uncertainties. This paper shows that paleo-detectors may hold the key to unraveling our Galactic history.

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“…Furthermore, the shape of the track length spectra induced by radiogenic backgrounds can be calibrated by studying the track length distributions in mineral samples with large concentrations of 238 U . Finally, the 238 U concentration in a given sample can be measured using, for example, mass spectrometry or gamma ray spectroscopy [141,142]. Hence, we expect the uncertainty on the radiogenic background predictions to be much smaller and assign them a (relative) systematic error of ±1 %.…”

Section: Backgroundsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Projections for Dark Matter Searches with Paleo-Detectors

Baum,

Edwards,

Freese

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Paleo-detectors are a proposed experimental technique to search for dark matter (DM). In lieu of the conventional approach of operating a tonne-scale real-time detector to search for DM-induced nuclear recoils, paleo-detectors take advantage of small samples of naturally occurring rocks on Earth that have been deep underground ( 5 km), accumulating nuclear damage tracks from recoiling nuclei for O(1) Gyr. Modern microscopy techniques promise the capability to read out nuclear damage tracks with nanometer resolution in macroscopic samples. Thanks to their O(1) Gyr integration times, paleo-detectors could constitute nuclear recoil detectors with keV recoil energy thresholds and 100 kilotonne-yr exposures. This combination would allow paleo-detectors to probe DM-nucleon cross sections orders of magnitude below existing upper limits from conventional direct detection experiments. In this article, we use improved background modeling and a new spectral analysis technique to update the sensitivity forecast for paleo-detectors. We demonstrate the robustness of the sensitivity forecast to the (lack of) ancillary measurements of the age of the samples and the parameters controlling the backgrounds, systematic mismodeling of the spectral shape of the backgrounds, and the radiopurity of the mineral samples. Specifically, we demonstrate that even if the uranium concentration in paleo-detector samples is 10 −8 (per weight), many orders of magnitude larger than what we expect in the most radiopure samples obtained from ultra basic rock or marine evaporite deposits, paleodetectors could still probe DM-nucleon cross sections below current limits. For DM masses 10 GeV/c 2 , the sensitivity of paleo-detectors could still reach down all the way to the conventional neutrino floor in a Xe-based direct detection experiment.

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New ultra-sensitive radioanalytical technologies for new science

Cited by 21 publications

References 180 publications

New Projections for Dark Matter Searches with Paleo-Detectors

New Projections for Dark Matter Searches with Paleo-Detectors

Galactic Geology: Probing Time-Varying Dark Matter Signals with Paleo-Detectors

New Projections for Dark Matter Searches with Paleo-Detectors

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