Nuclear, Particle, Astroparticle and Cosmology (NUPAC) Seminars
First Light from the MIGDAL experiment: preliminary results and a look to the future.
Presented by Elizabeth Tilly (UNM)
Theoretical work on the Migdal effect has been used to extend experimental limits on the dark matter (DM) mass by over an order of magnitude. This effect has yet to be observed, however, which has led to a race for its detection. I am a member of the Migdal in Galactic Dark mAtter expLoration (MIGDAL) collaboration whose goal is to make the first direct and unambiguous observation of the Migdal effect from fast neutron scattering. The experiment utilizes an Optical Time Projection Chamber (TPC) which allows for precise three-dimensional reconstruction of the ionization tracks from electron and nuclear recoil tracks in a Migdal event. The first science run took place this fall at a high flux neutron facility at the Rutherford Appleton Lab in the UK.
In this talk I will describe my work on the MIGDAL data simulations and analysis and present preliminary results from the first science run. In addition to MIGDAL, I have also worked in the lab at UNM to design and develop a higher resolution negative ion drift (NID)-based TPC for use in a MIGDAL Phase 2. I will also report on the progress with this work.
2:00 pm, Tuesday, October 17, 2023
PAIS-3205, PAIS
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