Sub-GeV Dark Matter Searches and Electric Field Studies for the LUX and LZ Experiments

TL;DR

This paper presents novel methods using the first LUX dataset to set limits on sub-GeV dark matter and models electric fields in the detector, while also discussing the upcoming LZ experiment and high voltage challenges.

Contribution

It introduces two new detection techniques for sub-GeV dark matter and provides a detailed 3D electric field model for the LUX detector, enhancing its sensitivity.

Findings

Extended dark matter mass sensitivity down to 0.4 GeV/c²

Developed a 3D electric field model for LUX

Characterized high voltage breakdown in noble liquid detectors

Abstract

The nature of dark matter (DM) remains a mystery since it has so far eluded detection in the laboratory. To that end, the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment was built to directly observe the interaction of DM with xenon target nuclei. LUX acquired data from April 2013 to May 2016 at SURF in South Dakota, which led to publications of many world-leading exclusion limits that probe much of the unexplored DM parameter space. This manuscript describes two novel direct detection methods that used the first LUX dataset to place limits on sub-GeV DM. The Bremsstrahlung and Migdal effects consider electron recoils that accompany the standard DM-nucleus scattering, thereby extending the reach of the LUX detector to lower DM masses. The spin-independent DM-nucleon scattering was constrained for four different classes of mediators for DM particles with masses of 0.4-5 GeV/c$^{2}$. The detector conditions changed significantly before its final 332 live-days of data acquisition. The electric fields varied in a non-trivial non-symmetric manner, which triggered a need for a fully 3D model of the electric fields inside the LUX detector. The successful modeling of these electric fields, described herein, enabled a thorough understanding of the detector throughout its scientific program and strengthened its sensitivity to DM. The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment is a next-generation xenon detector soon to start searching for DM. However, increasingly large noble liquid detectors like LZ are facing challenges with applications of high voltage (HV). The Xenon Breakdown Apparatus (XeBrA) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was built to characterize the HV behavior of liquid xenon and liquid argon. Results from XeBrA will serve not only to improve our understanding of the physical processes involved in the breakdown but also to inform the future of noble liquid detector engineering.