LUX-ZEPLIN

Abstract:

The ANITA experiment is a balloon-borne radio-pulse detector system designed to measure Ultra-High Energy (UHE) neutrinos interacting in the Antarctic ice utilizing the distinct broadband radio pulse due to the Askaryan effect. The radio-transparent ice serves as a target volume for the production of these pulses. ANITA will have an effective viewing area of over one million km2 of ice at float altitude (∼37 km). A prototype experiment, ANITA-LITE, was flown during the 2003-2004 Austral Summer from Antarctica to perform an impulsive RF background survey of Antarctica. In the process, it has yielded strong constraints on UHE neutrinos, ruling out some theoretical models. We also discuss the expected instrument performance for the first full ANITA flight, planned for a 2006 Austral Summer launch out of McMurdo, Antarctica.

Abstract:

ANITA is a balloon borne radio telescope designed to detect the interactions of ultra-high energy (UHE) neutrinos (> 3x1018 eV) in the Antarctic ice cap. These interactions produce Cherenkov radiation in the form of a distinct broadband radio pulse known as the Askaryan effect. The pure, radio transparent Antarctic ice cap serves as an almost ideal medium for the generation of these pulses and ANITA will have an effective viewing area of one million km2 at float altitude. A prototype experiment, ANITA-LITE was flown during the 2003/2004 Austral summer from Antarctica to do an impulsive RF background survey. We present a discussion of the instrumentation and technique we will use to utilize the ice cap as a detector to measure the UHE neutrino flux.

Abstract:

In the CRESST-II experiment, scintillating CaWO4 crystals are used as absorbers for direct WIMP (weakly interacting massive particles) detection. Nuclear recoils can be discriminated against electron recoils by measuring phonons and scintillation light simultaneously. The absorber crystal and the silicon light detector are read out by tungsten superconducting phase transition thermometers (W-SPTs). Results on the sensitivity of the phonon and the light channel, radiopurity, the scintillation properties of CaWO4 and on the WIMP sensitivity are presented.

Abstract:

For the first time the natural alpha decay of W-180 has been unambiguously detected in a (gamma, beta and neutron)-free background spectrum. This has been obtained by simultaneously measuring phonon and light signals with CRESST 11 cryogenic detectors. Results on the radio purity of the detectors and on the measured half-life of W-180 are presented.

Abstract:

The mass number dependence of the WIMP-nucleus scattering offers a method for identifying a true WIMP signal over a neutron background. In this paper we present a study on using a combination of ZnWO4 and CaWO4 absorbers to exploit this materials signature for WIMP detection. We show that already modest exposure in the region of 5 kg years should allow the detection of WIMP interaction for cross sections smaller than current experimental sensitivities. The combination of these two tungstates could form the basis of the first multi-target detector capable of WIMP identification through materials signature.