Direct Dark Matter Search with a Dual-Phase Liquid Argon Time Projection Camber
A wide range of astronomical observations demonstrated that the visible stars and gas in all galaxies, including our own, are immersed in a much larger cloud of non-luminous matter, typically an order of magnitude greater in total mass. The existence of this “dark matter” is consistent with evidence from large-scale galaxy surveys and microwave background measurements, indicating that the majority of matter in the universe is non-baryonic. The nature of this non-baryonic component is still totally unknown, and the resolution of the “dark matter puzzle” is of fundamental importance to cosmology, astrophysics, and elementary particle physics. A leading candidate explanation, motivated by supersymmetry theory, is that dark matter is comprised of as yet undiscovered Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) formed in the early universe and subsequently gravitationally clustered in association with baryonic matter.
DarkSide is a two-phase liquid argon time projection chamber, designed to potentially detect WIMPs by means of scintillation light and ionization generated by recoiling nuclei. The DarkSide-20k detector is shown above : the acrylic TPC (green), with a cathode and an anode (purple) and Silicon PhotoMultipliers at the top and the bottom, is inserted in a stainless steel vessel (grey) which is hooked to the proto-DUNE cryostat (red). It is currently in construction at Laboratori Nazionale du Gran Sasso in Italy, see picture below
