Physical Society Colloquium

Dark Matter Detection Results, LUX, LZ and the State of the Field

Richard Gaitskell

Brown University

Particle dark matter is thought to be the overwhelming majority of the matter in the Universe. Its gravitational contribution overwhelms that from the ordinary matter that we, the earth and the stars, are composed of. However, direct evidence for the existence of particle dark matter remains controversial.

I will discuss the motivations in the hunt for dark matter, and review the technologies that have been used to pursue it. I will compare some of the latest results in the field of direct detection, and look at the best techniques that may help us to definitively detect the illusive dark matter particles

My discussions will include the LUX Experiment which has recently reported world leading results in the search for WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles). LUX is a 350 kg liquid Xe time projection chamber, and is operating underground at the Sanford Lab, Homestake, SD. I will review future LUX running, and also the follow on experiment: LZ (LUX-ZEPLIN), a 7 tonne liquid Xe detector which is proposed to be constructed at Sanford Lab in 2016+.