From Concept to Experiment: Advancements in Dark Matter Direct Detection

Itay Bloch, UC Berkeley

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

3:30 PM

Broida 1640

Abstract: In the past decade, Direct Detection— the search for Dark Matter's non-gravitational interactions with regular matter in terrestrial environments — has made remarkable strides forward. The tapestry of proposed, and ever-improving experiments will probe some of the most well-motivated Dark Matter candidates in the upcoming years, benefiting from and to incredible technological developments. After a brief discussion of the 200 years-long history of searching for Non-Luminous Matter from gravitational anomalies, I will move to discuss the broad spectrum of detection methods utilized in the hunt for Dark Matter in labs across the world. I will explain the basics of recoil-based experiments, which are a centerpiece of humanity's hunt for DM, with a spotlight on more recent advancements in Electron-Recoil based searches. I will then discuss the search for ultralight dark matter candidates, a field that has drastically expanded in the last few years, focusing on attempts to utilize highly sensitive metrological devices, to measure the minute coherent effects induced by wave-like Dark Matter.