Münster 2017 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 47: Eingeladene Vorträge 1

T 47.5: Eingeladener Vortrag

Dienstag, 28. März 2017, 15:48–16:15, H 1

The COSINUS project - development of new NaI-based detectors for direct dark matter search — •Karoline Schäffner — Gran Sasso Science Institute, L'Aquila, Italy

Dark matter makes up more than a quarter of the matter-energy composition of the Universe and until today its presence is discerned by gravitational interactions only. Remarkably though, several direct dark matter searches, in particular the DAMA/LIBRA experiment, observe an annual modulation signal which matches the expected signal from particle dark matter, but is inconsistent with null-results of most other direct dark matter searches. Since different experiments use diverse target materials, a direct comparison of their results is only possible if taking into account certain assumptions. So, the only way of providing a model independent cross-check of the DAMA/LIBRA dark matter claim is the use of the same target material, but in a different experiment. Within the COSINUS project we aim to develop a cryogenic scintillating calorimeter operated at around ten milli-Kelvin using undoped sodium iodide (NaI) scintillating crystals as target for direct dark matter search which allows for a direct comparison to DAMA/LIBRA, and the additional and unique feature of providing a lower nuclear recoil threshold combined with particle discrimination. In this talk I will give an introduction to low temperature detectors and their potential in the field of rare event searches. Furthermore, I will discuss in detail the COSINUS detector concept and the differences to already existing NaI-based detectors. I will conclude with achieved results within the first year of the project and its future perspectives.