In Search of Cosmic-Ray Antinuclei from Dark Matter with the GAPS Experiment

  • Starts: 3:30 pm on Thursday, November 17, 2022
  • Ends: 4:30 pm on Thursday, November 17, 2022
The origin of dark matter is a driving question of modern physics. Finding dark matter in the laboratory and elucidating its properties could revolutionize our understanding of the fundamental building blocks of the universe. The common challenges for dark matter searches in astrophysical signatures are large and uncertain backgrounds. The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is a balloon-borne experiment designed to identify low-energy cosmic antinuclei, in particular antideuterons from dark matter annihilation or decay, using the uniquely characterized atomic X-rays and charged particles from the decay of exotic atoms. With such a novel detection approach, benefitting from a custom-developed large-area silicon tracker and a large-acceptance Time-of-Flight system, GAPS is sensitive to antideuterons and even antiheliums with the kinetic energy ≤0.25 GeV/n, which should offer an essentially background-free region to probe many generic dark matter models. Additionally, GAPS will collect a high-statistics antiproton spectrum in an unexplored energy range, and open a sensitivity to low-energy cosmic antihelium. The GAPS instrument consists of a tracker of >1000 custom Si(Li) detectors; a precision-timing, large-area time-of-flight system; and a novel oscillating heat pipe thermal system. GAPS is currently under integration and preparing for the first Antarctic balloon flight in late 2023 while two follow-up flights are planned. This talk will present the science impact of the GAPS experiment; its custom-developed instrument technology, including the design principle, commissioning of the GAPS functional prototype, integration and testing of GAPS full payload, with special focus on the construction of the Si(Li) tracker; and the path forward to the initial flight.
Location:
PRB 595
Speaker
Mengjiao Xiao
Institution
MIT
Host
Indara Suarez