Development of a large mass dark matter detector containing fluorine

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K18768
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 15:Particle-, nuclear-, astro-physics, and related fields
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Miuchi Kentaro 神戸大学, 理学研究科, 准教授 (80362440)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-06-29 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 暗黒物質 / シンチレーション検出器 / 粒子検出器 / 素粒子実験 / 宇宙線実験

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The ultimate goal of this work is to detect and reveal the nature of the unknown material in the universe, the dark matter. The dark matter is known to contribute one fourth of the total energy in the universe. We developed a prototype detector with two photomultiplier tubes aiming a realization of a liquid CF4 scintillation detector. We measured the performance of this prototype detector with gamma-ray sources. This device should be a breakthrough technology towards the discovery of the dark matter. Development of a low background and large volume detector would enable us to start the investigation of the indicated region.

Free Research Field

宇宙素粒子物理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、宇宙の組成の1/4を占める未発見の素粒子「暗黒物質」の発見及び性質解明を究極の目標として研究を進めた。暗黒物質の発見および性質解明に重要となる方向に感度を持つ手法の感度を向上させるために、新しい技術の検出器「液化CF4検出器」の実現のための基礎開発を行った。こうした結果は、宇宙の大きな謎である暗黒物質の正体解明に対する大きな一歩となった。