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Illuminating the Darkness with LUX and LZ: Results and Prospects

Tomasz Biesiadzinski, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Wednesday, April 27, 2016 - 2:00pm to 3:00pm
PAT C-520

​The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment is working on the detection of dark matter particles through their possible weak interactions with heavy nuclei. LUX is a dual phase time projection chamber (TPC) located underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF). It uses the ratio of the primary scintillation and secondary ionization signals from particle interactions with Xe nuclei to discriminate between electron-recoil backgrounds and nuclear-recoil WIMP signatures. In addition, the reconstructed three-dimensional position of these interactions and xenon's effective self-shielding is further used to suppress backgrounds originating from outside of the TPC. LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a next generation experiment expanding on the capabilities of LUX by increasing the liquid Xe target mass. This presents significant challenges to the construction of the LZ TPC. I will present an overview of the LUX experiment here along with the results from a recent re-analysis of previously reported data using improved calibrations and data processing chain. In addition, I will discuss the follow up LZ experiment focusing on the extensive testing program currently underway.

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