2007/01/16 by P. Benetti, R. Acciarri, F. Adamo +31 · 4 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Argon #Astrophysics #Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research #Atomic physics #Cosmology #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark energy #Dark matter #Detector #Electron #Nuclear physics #Optics #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Physics #Scalar field dark matter #Scintillation #WIMP #Weakly interacting massive particles #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2007.08.002
published as Astropart.Phys.28:495-507,2008 · 26 pages, 8 figures, submitted to astroparticle physics
arxiv created 2007/01/16 · openalex publication_date 2007/08/18 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
A new method of searching for dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP) has been developed with the direct detection of the low energy nuclear recoils observed in a massive target (ultimately many tons) of ultra pure Liquid Argon at 87 K. A high selectivity for Argon recoils is achieved by the simultaneous observation of both the VUV scintillation luminescence and of the electron signal surviving columnar recombination, extracted through the liquid-gas boundary by an electric field. First physics results from this method are reported, based on a small 2.3 litre test chamber filled with natural Argon and an accumulated fiducial exposure of about 100 kg x day, supporting the future validity of this method with isotopically purified 40Ar and for a much larger unit presently under construction with correspondingly increased sensitivities.