Public Abstract

DE-SC0017938: Searching for Dark Matter and Dark Sectors

Award Status: Inactive

Institution: Research Foundation for the State University of New York d/b/a RFSUNY - Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
UEI: M746VC6XMNH9
PM: Kilgore, William

Most Recent Award Date: 03/08/2019
Number of Support Periods: 3
PI: Essig, Rouven

Current Budget Period: 05/01/2019 - 04/30/2020
Current Project Period: 07/01/2017 - 04/30/2020

Public Abstract

Searching for Dark Matter and Dark Sectors Rouven Essig, Stony Brook University (Principal Investigator) The overall objective of this proposal is to explore dark sectors, especially below the GeV-scale. Dark sectors, which are particles that are not charged directly under the Standard Model forces, are an exciting theoretical possibility that could address several shortcomings of the Standard Model, including the existence of dark matter. The proposed research will: (1) Develop novel techniques and strategies for direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter, and provide the theoretical support for ongoing direct-detection efforts. (2) Investigate new models of dark sectors, and derive new constraints from cosmology, astrophysics, and terrestrial experiments. This includes an investigation of models with dark-matter self-interactions that could help form supermassive black holes in the early Universe. (3) Explore new opportunities for dark-sector searches with existing and planned experiments. This includes providing the theoretical support to two experiments the PI helped propose, the A' Experiment (APEX) and the Heavy Photon Search (HPS), both at Jefferson Lab. (4) Search for a dark photon with APEX. APEX will use an intense beam of electrons incident on a tantalum target, and will measure the invariant mass of electron-positron pairs to search for a dark-photon resonance. The proposed research program will significantly advance the search for new particles and new forces, with potentially transformative outcomes: (1) It will further enable direct-detection experiments to probe vast regions of uncharted dark matter parameter space down to MeV masses, about three orders of magnitude lower in mass than traditional direct-detection strategies. (2) It will expose gaps in current experimental exploration, prompt new ideas for how these might be probed, and reveal how dark sectors might impact structure in our Universe. (3) It will increase the discovery potential of dark sectors at three experimental frontiers -- energy, intensity, and cosmic. (4) The search for dark photons in the mass range of 65 to 550 MeV with APEX could lead potentially to a high-impact discovery.

Searching for Dark Matter and Dark Sectors

Rouven Essig, Stony Brook University (Principal Investigator)

The overall objective of this proposal is to explore dark sectors, especially below the GeV-scale. Dark sectors, which are particles that are not charged directly under the Standard Model forces, are an exciting theoretical possibility that could address several shortcomings of the Standard Model, including the existence of dark matter.

The proposed research will: (1) Develop novel techniques and strategies for direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter, and provide the theoretical support for ongoing direct-detection efforts. (2) Investigate new models of dark sectors, and derive new constraints from cosmology, astrophysics, and terrestrial experiments. This includes an investigation of models with dark-matter self-interactions that could help form supermassive black holes in the early Universe. (3) Explore new opportunities for dark-sector searches with existing and planned experiments. This includes providing the theoretical support to two experiments the PI helped propose, the A' Experiment (APEX) and the Heavy Photon Search (HPS), both at Jefferson Lab. (4) Search for a dark photon with APEX. APEX will use an intense beam of electrons incident on a tantalum target, and will measure the invariant mass of electron-positron pairs to search for a dark-photon resonance.

The proposed research program will significantly advance the search for new particles and new forces, with potentially transformative outcomes: (1) It will further enable direct-detection experiments to probe vast regions of uncharted dark matter parameter space down to MeV masses, about three orders of magnitude lower in mass than traditional direct-detection strategies. (2) It will expose gaps in current experimental exploration, prompt new ideas for how these might be probed, and reveal how dark sectors might impact structure in our Universe. (3) It will increase the discovery potential of dark sectors at three experimental frontiers -- energy, intensity, and cosmic. (4) The search for dark photons in the mass range of 65 to 550 MeV with APEX could lead potentially to a high-impact discovery.