• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Graduate Theses, Dissertations and Projects
    • Queen's Graduate Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Graduate Theses, Dissertations and Projects
    • Queen's Graduate Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    A New and Improved Spin-Dependent Dark Matter Exclusion Limit Using the PICASSO Experiment

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Clark_Kenneth_J_200808_PhD.pdf (1.847Mb)
    Date
    2009-11-18
    Author
    Clark, Kenneth
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    The PICASSO project is a direct dark matter search experiment located 2070 metres underground in SNOLAB. Superheated droplets of Freon (C4F10) are used as the active mass, providing a target for the incoming neutralinos. Recoiling nuclei deposit energy in the superheated Freon droplets, triggering a phase transition, the pressure waves of which can be detected using piezo-electric sensors.

    Previously published limits using an exposure of 1.98 +/- 0.19 kg day obtained a peak spin-dependent cross section exclusion limit for neutralino-proton interactions of 1.31 pb at a neutralino mass of 29 GeV/c^2 at a 90% confidence level. Improvements in the detectors installed in the underground experiment have provided 20.99 +/- 0.25 kg day for analysis and improvements in the analysis method have produced an exclusion limit of 2.9 X 10^(-2) pb at a neutralino mass of 16.7 GeV/c^2.

    In addition, a thorough study of the backgrounds, corrections and systematic uncertainties has been included, indicating that this limit does not exceed 3.5 X 10^(-2) pb when considering the one sigma error on the uncertainty band.
    URI for this record
    http://hdl.handle.net/1974/5323
    Collections
    • Queen's Graduate Theses and Dissertations
    • Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy Graduate Theses
    Request an alternative format
    If you require this document in an alternate, accessible format, please contact the Queen's Adaptive Technology Centre

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
    Contact Us
    Theme by 
    Atmire NV
     

     

    Browse

    All of QSpaceCommunities & CollectionsPublished DatesAuthorsTitlesSubjectsTypesThis CollectionPublished DatesAuthorsTitlesSubjectsTypes

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage StatisticsView Google Analytics Statistics

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
    Contact Us
    Theme by 
    Atmire NV