Experimental HEP Seminar

À la recherche de la matière perdue:
Dark Matter, Cryogenic Particle Detectors, and Brittle Fracture

Philippe Di Stefano

IPNL

The riddle of dark matter persists since the 1930s: most of the matter in the Universe appears only through gravitational interactions. Extensions to the standard model of particle physics may provide a solution, in the form of elusive Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). Experimental efforts to detect WIMPs have intensified recently, and cryogenic detectors boast leading sensitivities, thanks to their ability to reject the dominant radioactive background. Development of solid cryogenic scintillators is ongoing to increase the range of available targets. An unexpected by-product of one WIMP search may also provide a new method to study brittle fracture via calorimetry (http://www.arxiv.org/abs/physics/0504151).