The Directional Dark Matter Detector

TL;DR

This paper discusses the development of a gas-filled TPC with GEMs and pixels for directional dark matter detection, aiming to distinguish low-mass WIMP signals from background.

Contribution

It introduces a scalable 1-m^3 directional dark matter detector, \\dcube, and outlines its potential for low-mass WIMP searches and background discrimination.

Findings

Prototype work demonstrates feasibility of the technology.

Development path toward an affordable, large-scale detector.

Potential to clarify signals observed by other experiments.

Abstract

Gas-filled Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) with Gas Electron Multipliers (GEMs) and pixels appear suitable for direction-sensitive WIMP dark matter searches. We present the background and motivation for our work on this technology, past and ongoing prototype work, and a development path towards an affordable, 1-$\rm m^3$-scale directional dark matter detector, \dcube. Such a detector may be particularly suitable for low-mass WIMP searches, and perhaps sufficiently sensitive to clearly determine whether the signals seen by DAMA, CoGeNT, and CRESST-II are due to low-mass WIMPs or background.