Abstract
LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a next-generation dark matter direct detection experiment that will operate 4850 feet underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota, USA. Using a two-phase xenon detector with an active mass of 7 tonnes, LZ will search primarily for low-energy interactions with weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which are hypothesized to make up the dark matter in our galactic halo. In this paper, the projected WIMP sensitivity of LZ is presented based on the latest background estimates and simulations of the detector. For a 1000 live day run using a 5.6-tonne fiducial mass, LZ is projected to exclude at 90% confidence level spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross sections above 1.4×10-48 cm2 for a 40 GeV/c2 mass WIMP. Additionally, a 5σ discovery potential is projected, reaching cross sections below the exclusion limits of recent experiments. For spin-dependent WIMP-neutron(-proton) scattering, a sensitivity of 2.3×10-43 cm2 (7.1×10-42 cm2) for a 40 GeV/c2 mass WIMP is expected. With underground installation well underway, LZ is on track for commissioning at SURF in 2020.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 052002 |
| Journal | Physical Review D |
| Volume | 101 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 1 2020 |
Funding
We acknowledge the important contribution of our deceased colleague Professor James White of Texas A&M University, whose vision was fundamental to the conceptual design and experimental strategy of LZ. The research supporting this work took place in whole or in part at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota. Funding for this work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics under Contracts No. DE-AC02-05CH11231, No. DE-SC0020216, No. DE-SC0012704, No. DE-SC0010010, No. DE-AC02-07CH11359, No. DE-SC0012161, No. DE-SC0014223, No. DE-FG02-13ER42020, No. DE-SC0009999, No. DE-NA0003180, No. DE-SC0011702, No. DESC0010072, No. DE-SC0015708, No. DE-SC0006605, No. DE-FG02-10ER46709, No. UW PRJ82AJ, No. DE-SC0013542, No. DE-AC02-76SF00515, No. DE-SC0019066, No. DE-AC52-07NA27344, and No. DOE-SC0012447. This research was also supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF); the U.K. Science & Technology Facilities Council under Grants No. ST/M003655/1, No. ST/M003981/1, No. ST/M003744/1, No. ST/M003639/1, No. ST/M003604/1, and No. ST/M003469/1; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under Grant No. PTDC/FIS-PAR/28567/2017; the Institute for Basic Science, Korea (IBS-R016-D1). University College London and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory thank the U.K. Royal Society for travel funds under the International Exchange Scheme (IE141517). We acknowledge additional support from the Boulby Underground Laboratory in the U.K., the GridPP Collaboration (in particular, at Imperial College London), and additional support by the University College London (UCL) Cosmoparticle Initiative. This research used resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with the registration number SC005336. The assistance of SURF and its personnel in providing physical access and general logistical and technical support is acknowledged.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Nuclear and High Energy Physics