Thesis

Analysis tools development for XENON1T and XENONnT

• Call:

  IDPASC Portugal - PHD Programme 2017

• Academic Year:

  2017 / 2018

• Domains:

  Experimental Particle Physics | Astroparticle Physics

• Supervisor:

  José Matias

• Co-Supervisor:

  Francesco Arneodo

• Institution:

  Universidade de Coimbra

• Host Institution:

  U. Coimbra and NYU AD

• Abstract:

  Motivated by the striking fact that 85% of the mass in the Universe remains a mystery, the so-called Dark Matter, our team joined the XENON collaboration for Dark Matter direct detection in 2004. XENON (xenon.astro.columbia.edu) has consistently led the way for the discovery of Dark Matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), since the publication of its first results in 2007. The phased program started with XENON10 (2005-2007) followed by the XENON100 detector (2008-2016) that besides the outstanding record of 8 years non-stop operation of a liquid xenon time projection chamber, has allowed to thoroughly study and understand the detailed physics of its operation paving the way for the future larger scale detectors of the XENON program. With real discovery potential, XENON1T, the only ton-scale detector operating in the world, started taking science data in November 2016. The results from its first 30 days of operation (http://arxiv.org/abs/1705.06655) confirm it as the most sensitive dark matter search device ever in history. It will reach its ultimate dark matter sensitivity after 2 years of operation. Starting in 2019, XENONnT will have a 3 times larger target that will allow to basically testing the full parameter space for WIMPs with mass > 10 GeV/c2. The core work plan will be the development of analysis tools for XENON1T and XENONnT capitalizing on the extensive experience gained with XENON100. Other tasks will include remote monitoring of the vital parameters of the experiment as well as other remote tasks that can be performed away from Gran Sasso. The candidate will contribute to the operational maintenance of XENON1T locally at the experiment location (LNGS) in Italy, plus several few months stays at NYU (Abu Dhabi). The successful candidate will have here an exceptional opportunity of integrating the highly stimulating environment of a cutting-edge world class experiment.