Acoustic Imaging for Nucleation events in a Scintillating Bubble Chamber Dark Matter

Advisor(s)

Dr. Eric Dahl; Northwestern University, Department of Physics and Astronomy

Discipline

Physical Science

Start Date

19-4-2023 10:05 AM

End Date

19-4-2023 10:20 AM

Abstract

One of the longest-standing fundamental questions in physics is the nature of dark matter. To address this problem, the Dahl Group's goal, in collaboration with the Scintillating Bubble Chamber (SBC) Collaboration, is to introduce and develop new nuclear recoil detection technology that combines two existing technologies: bubble chamber electron recoil rejection and liquid scintillator event-by-event energy resolution. This technique searches for WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles), a leading dark matter candidate that would interact with normal matter by scattering elastically off atomic nuclei. The SBC Collaboration has suggested that a scintillating liquid argon bubble chamber be operated and analyzed at Fermilab for dark matter and neutrino studies. This contribution to the development of a scintillating liquid argon bubble chamber focuses on nuclear recoil sensitivity calibration to identify the lowest energy nuclear recoils while simultaneously excluding electron recoil events and background events. The Neutron Therapy Facility at Fermilab will be aid in developing reliable antimony-beryllium neutron sources, which are explored and modeled both experimentally and initially via simulations to ideal sources for optimal calibration. A machine learning model is being developed to interpret audio signals produced by bubble nucleation events, as the scintillating properties of the bubble chamber can cause interference with video and photographic imaging.

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Apr 19th, 10:05 AM Apr 19th, 10:20 AM

Acoustic Imaging for Nucleation events in a Scintillating Bubble Chamber Dark Matter

One of the longest-standing fundamental questions in physics is the nature of dark matter. To address this problem, the Dahl Group's goal, in collaboration with the Scintillating Bubble Chamber (SBC) Collaboration, is to introduce and develop new nuclear recoil detection technology that combines two existing technologies: bubble chamber electron recoil rejection and liquid scintillator event-by-event energy resolution. This technique searches for WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles), a leading dark matter candidate that would interact with normal matter by scattering elastically off atomic nuclei. The SBC Collaboration has suggested that a scintillating liquid argon bubble chamber be operated and analyzed at Fermilab for dark matter and neutrino studies. This contribution to the development of a scintillating liquid argon bubble chamber focuses on nuclear recoil sensitivity calibration to identify the lowest energy nuclear recoils while simultaneously excluding electron recoil events and background events. The Neutron Therapy Facility at Fermilab will be aid in developing reliable antimony-beryllium neutron sources, which are explored and modeled both experimentally and initially via simulations to ideal sources for optimal calibration. A machine learning model is being developed to interpret audio signals produced by bubble nucleation events, as the scintillating properties of the bubble chamber can cause interference with video and photographic imaging.