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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01z316q436k
Title: Cherenkov Related Backgrounds in the DarkSide-50 Experiment
Authors: Xiang, Xin
Advisors: Galbiati, Cristiano
Meyers, Peter
Contributors: Physics Department
Keywords: Argon
Background Free
Cherenkov
Dark Matter
DarkSide
Nuclear Recoil
Subjects: Particle physics
Issue Date: 2018
Publisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University
Abstract: Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) remain the most popular dark matter candidate as of 2018. DarkSide-50 is a dark matter direct detection experiment at Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy. The primary mission of DarkSide-50 is to detect the nuclear recoil signals created by WIMPs scattering off Argon nuclei in a background-free operation. While DarkSide-50 had demonstrated various background suppression techniques toward the background-free operation, Cherenkov radiation in coincidence with LAr scintillation remains the most severe background. In this work, I will first describe the discovery of this troublesome background in a non-blind analysis, followed by detailed background characterizations in a GEANT4-based Monte Carlo simulation. I will take you through various benchmarks of the background study, from tuning the Cherenkov related optics, to building data-driven F90 and S2 models, to exploring the analysis cuts, and finally to validating the background predictions in a recently published blind analysis. The study of Cherenkov background turns out to be crucial to establishing the background-free liquid argon technology in the field.
URI: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01z316q436k
Alternate format: The Mudd Manuscript Library retains one bound copy of each dissertation. Search for these copies in the library's main catalog: catalog.princeton.edu
Type of Material: Academic dissertations (Ph.D.)
Language: en
Appears in Collections:Physics

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