Rare Event Searches Experiments

Staff Members

The experiments for rare event searches have a more and more important role in the search for new physics, from dark matter to neutrino physics.

The dynamics of galaxies and clusters of galaxies points towards the existence of dark matter. Different dark matter candidates do exist.  Direct searches for dark matter focus on so-called WIMPs, Weakly Interacting Dark Matter. These particles do not exist in the standard model of particle physics and do not only interact gravitationally, but also weakly.

Direct dark matter experiments look for interactions between WIMPS and the nuclei of the detector. Since the interaction between the nuclei and the WIMP is very weak, the experiments are performed in underground laboratories, in order to screen from cosmic radiation and natural radioactivity.

A new and unique experimental probe for precision studies of neutrino properties and for new physics beyond the Standard Model is the coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering. The experimental signature of this process is a tiny energy deposited by nuclear recoil in the target material.