The LZ dark matter WIMP search and treatment of fundamental signals
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- While we can observe dark matter gravitationally, we have yet to determine its exact physical properties through non-gravitational means. One of the most historically favored models for dark matter is the weakly-interacting massive particle (WIMP). The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter experiment seeks to detect WIMPs through the use of a dual-phase time projection chamber (TPC) filled with a 7 tonne active xenon target. LZ published world-leading limits on WIMP-nucleon cross-sections for WIMP masses above 9 GeV/c^2 following its first WIMP search. In addition to summarizing the full WIMP search, this work discusses the development of key efforts including the treatment of fixed and time-varying conditions within both reconstruction and analysis frameworks, studies of high-activity periods likely resulting from fluorescence of the TPC walls, and the development of novel methods to model backgrounds and test analysis cut efficiencies. LZ's future WIMP searches will incorporate a form of bias mitigation known as "salting" in which unknown quantities of fake signal events are injected into WIMP-search data. This work discusses the methods used to reliably model, create, and inject fake yet unidentifiable signal events into LZ's data stream. This work concludes with results from the application of autoencoders on PMT waveforms to remove unknown backgrounds.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2023; ©2023 |
| Publication date | 2023; 2023 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Anderson, Tyler James |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Akerib, Daniel |
| Degree supervisor | Monzani,Maria Elena |
| Thesis advisor | Akerib, Daniel |
| Thesis advisor | Monzani,Maria Elena |
| Thesis advisor | Allen, Steven |
| Thesis advisor | Tompkins, Lauren |
| Degree committee member | Allen, Steven |
| Degree committee member | Tompkins, Lauren |
| Associated with | Stanford University, School of Humanities and Sciences |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Physics |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Tyler James Anderson. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Physics. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2023. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/ph299jn6907 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2023 by Tyler James Anderson
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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