Estimating LUX-ZEPLIN's Sensitivity to Sub-GeV Dark Matter Scattering off Electrons in Xenon
Open Access
Author:
Eberlein, Gus
Area of Honors:
Physics
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Luiz De Viveiros, Thesis Supervisor Martin Bojowald, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Dark matter LUX-ZEPLIN Astroparticle physics
Abstract:
Comprising 85% of the mass of the universe, dark matter is one of the most pressing outstanding questions of physics. When it comes to directly detecting dark matter, the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ)
experiment has unparalleled sensitivity. We examine the detector’s capability to detect sub-GeV
dark matter scattering off the electrons in xenon, LZ’s scintillation medium. We develop a signal
model by calculating the expected DM-electron event rates as a function of electron recoil energy
and as a function of the number of freed electrons. Alongside an established backgrounds
model, this signal model is used to simulate events in the LZ detector. With this simulated data and
a cut-and-count analysis, we are able to estimate cross sections of dark matter-electron scattering
down to which LZ can detect the signal over the background. We find that LUX-ZEPLIN will be
able to detect certain light dark matter models at a much greater sensitivity than previous direct
detection experiments.
