Speaker
Jean-Côme Lanfranchi
(TUM)
Description
The largest fraction of matter density in the Universe is Dark Matter (~23%), which could be present in the form of WIMPs (= Weakly Interacting Massive Particles). A highly favoured candidate as WIMP is the neutralino predicted by SUSY theories in the frame of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). Direct experimental detection of WIMPs is expected to be possible via nuclear recoil measurements. Currently operating experiments are capable of detecting WIMP-nucleon scattering if the cross section is above ~10−8 pb. While a discovery at that level is possible, the consensus is that a ton-scale experiment using multiple target materials is needed to extend sensitivity to ~10−10 pb. This, however, means a factor of ~100 improvement in the level of the radioactive background in which the detectors are operated, and an increase of the target mass by a similar factor. One such experiment using low-temperature detectors at ~10mK is EURECA, which unifies the European cryogenic Dark Matter searches CRESST, EDELWEISS and ROSEBUD. The EURECA facility is planned to be installed in an extension to the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane (LSM).