Observational Cosmology Seminar

The particle nature of dark matter remains one of the last open questions in physics. I will briefly introduce some current theoretical models such as asymmetric dark matter and dark-sector models that motivate searches below the classic WIMP scale. For over 30 years the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment has pursued the direct detection of dark matter. Its current iteration, SuperCDMS SNOLAB is currently operating phonon-mediated silicon and germanium detectors at milli-Kelvin temperatures, 2 km underground. Our goal is to search for dark matter in the 0.5–5 GeV/c² mass range, with projected world-leading sensitivity to nucleon-coupled dark matter. Background modeling and mitigation are crucial for our analysis. In this talk I will talk about the work we did this summer at Caltech on understanding the level of Black Body Radiation noise in our detectors. We will look at data taken when the cryostat was warming to see if the levels of noise increase with an increase in temperature, and how any exposure to Black Body photons could change the TES operating conditions.