Low pressure gaseous detector for particle dark matter

Abstract

The results of recent testing of a prototype detector to search for weakly interacting massive particles in the galactic halo are presented. The detector is an optically imaged, low pressure time projection chamber. This technique offers significant advantages for the detection of dark matter in that it measures both the energy and direction of the nuclear recoil. Using neutron and x-ray sources we also demonstrate that this detector has substantial electron background rejection capability (greater than 99.8%) and can utilize various target nuclei, such as hydrogen and argon.