Speaker
Description
DEAP-3600, featuring a 3.3-tonne liquid argon target, is a dark matter direct detection experiment located at SNOLAB in Sudbury, Canada. Since 2019, it has set the most stringent exclusion limit in argon for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) above 20 GeV/c².
Building on its established analyses, the experiment has broadened its physics scope to include MeV-scale recoil energies, achieving world-leading exclusion limits for ultra-heavy, multi-scattering dark matter candidates. It has also initiated the first-ever search for neutrino absorption interactions in argon, an investigation still in progress. Furthermore, DEAP-3600 is advancing a detailed Profile Likelihood Ratio WIMP analysis on its complete second run, targeting unprecedented sensitivity. This progress draws on the understanding of dominant backgrounds, including shadowed alpha particles and dust within the detector. These challenges have driven detector upgrades for the upcoming third fill, scheduled for this year, with cooling initiated in March 2025.
Additionally, DEAP-3600's tonne-scale target mass has enabled significant insights into argon properties. This includes achieving the most precise measurement of argon's specific activity to date, determined to be 0.964 ± 0.024 Bq/kg of atmospheric argon. The experiment has also advanced quenching factor modeling for alpha particles down to 10 keV, with further local R&D measurements planned to constrain low-energy uncertainties.
The remarkable position resolution in its single-phase chamber, combined with the extended physics program at MeV scales and the results from the forthcoming third fill, is poised to significantly influence the physics reach and design of ARGO. ARGO, a pivotal step in the Global Argon Dark Matter Collaboration, will feature a 300-tonne fiducial ultra-pure argon mass as the ultimate liquid argon experiment searching for WIMPs, diving into the neutrino fog.
| Collaboration you are representing | DEAP-3600 |
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