First results from a dark matter search with liquid argon at 87 K in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory

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 l test chamber filled with natural argon and an accumulated fiducial exposure of about 100 kg 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.     

The Ku-band polarization identifier

The Ku-band polarization identifier (KUPID) will integrate a very low noise 12–18 GHz, correlation polarimeter onto the Crawford Hill seven meter, millimeter-wave antenna. The primary components of the polarimeter will be built at the University of Miami and other key components, including the microwave horn and data acquisition system will be built at the University of Chicago and Princeton University. This project will measure the Q and U Stokes parameters in regions near the north celestial pole, in regions of low galactic contamination, and in regions near the galactic plane. The KUPID survey experiment makes use of many of the techniques employed in the Princeton IQU experiment (PIQUE) that was developed by the members of this collaboration to detect CMB polarization at shorter wavelengths. The KUPID experiment will be constructed in parallel and on the same timescale as the CAPMAP experiment (see Barkats, this volume) which is the follow-on experiment to PIQUE. KUPID will observe on the Crawford Hill antenna from late spring until early autumn, while CAPMAP will observe during the lower water vapor months of late autumn until early spring.     

The nearby supernova factory

The Nearby Supernova Factory is an international project dedicated to the study of the nearby thermonuclear (type Ia) supernovæ. Based upon the NEAT search for the target discovery and the dedicated integral field spectrograph SNIFS for the follow‐up, the goal is to study, over a continuous period of 4 years, the spectro‐photometric evolution of ∼300 SNe Ia at z < 0.08 from −15 to +50 days in the extended optical range (320–1000 nm). This will allow to probe in detail the local Hubble diagram, SNe Ia physics and the SNe‐host galaxy correlations, serving as an unprecedented nearby benchmark for the high‐z cosmological studies to come. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Spitzer discovery of very low luminosity objects

The Spitzer Space Telescope allows for the .rst time to search systematically for very low luminosity (≲0.1 L_⊙) objects (VeLLOs) associated with dense molecular cores. They may be the .rst candidate Class 0 sources with sub‐stellar masses. We describe such a source in the dense molecular core L1148. VeLLO natal cores show properties that are unusual for star‐forming cores. The low luminosity and in some cases the lack of prominent out.ow could be the result of the small gas supply near the VeLLO. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A search for decay of with tin-loaded liquid scintillator

A search for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of ¹²⁴Sn was carried out using the tin-loaded liquid scintillator for an active source-detector technique. Tin (32.6%) in weight was successfully loaded into the liquid scintillator, and light output was as high as 57% of the unloaded liquid scintillator. A tin-loaded liquid scintillator with 1.1 ℓ volume was installed at the 700 m underground laboratory in YangYang, and data were taken for 5285 h. No evidence for the 0νββ decay was found and a lower limit on the ¹²⁴Sn half-life was obtained to be 2.0×10¹⁹ year with 90% C.L. The new limit represents a significant improvement with respect to those previously available for ¹²⁴Sn.     

Measurement of air-fluorescence-light yield induced by an electromagnetic shower

For most of the ultra-high-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) experiments and projects (HiRes, AUGER, TA, JEM-EUSO, TUS, …), the detection technique of extensive air showers is based, at least, on the measurement of the air-fluorescence-induced signal. The knowledge of the fluorescence-light yield (FLY) is of paramount importance for the UHECR energy reconstruction. The MACFLY experiment was designed to perform absolute measurements of the air FLY and to study its properties. Here, we report the result of measurement of dry-air FLY induced by 50 GeV electromagnetic showers as a function of the shower age and as a function of the pressure. The experiment was performed at CERN using a SPS-electron-test-beam line. The result shows the air FLY is proportional to the energy deposited in air (E_d). The ratio FLY/E_d and its pressure dependence remain constant independently of shower age, and more generally, independently of the excitation source used (single-electron track or air shower).     

The cosmic ray primary composition in the “knee” region through the EAS electromagnetic and muon measurements at EAS-TOP

The evolution of the cosmic ray primary composition in the energy range 10⁶–10⁷ GeV (i.e. the “knee” region) is studied by means of the e.m. and muon data of the Extensive Air Shower EAS-TOP array (Campo Imperatore, National Gran Sasso Laboratories). The measurement is performed through: (a) the correlated muon number (N_μ) and shower size (N_e) spectra, and (b) the evolution of the average muon numbers and their distributions as a function of the shower size. From analysis (a) the dominance of helium primaries at the knee, and therefore the possibility that the knee itself is due to a break in their energy spectrum (at E_k^He=(3.5±0.3)×10⁶ GeV) are deduced. Concerning analysis (b), the measurement accuracies allow the classification in terms of three mass groups: light (p,He), intermediate (CNO), and heavy (Fe). At primary energies E₀≈10⁶ GeV the results are consistent with the extrapolations of the data from direct experiments. In the knee region the obtained evolution of the energy spectra leads to: (i) an average steep spectrum of the light mass group (γ_p,He>3.1), (ii) a spectrum of the intermediate mass group harder than the one of the light component (γ_CNO2.75, possibly bending at E_k^CNO≈(6–7)×10⁶ GeV), (iii) a constant slope for the spectrum of the heavy primaries (γ_Fe2.3–2.7) consistent with the direct measurements. In the investigated energy range, the average primary mass increases from lnA=1.6–1.9 at E₀1.5×10⁶ GeV to lnA=2.8–3.1 at E₀1.5×10⁷ GeV. The result supports the standard acceleration and propagation models of galactic cosmic rays that predict rigidity dependent cut-offs for the primary spectra of the different nuclei. The uncertainties connected to the hadronic interaction model (QGSJET in CORSIKA) used for the interpretation are discussed.     

Monitor : transiting planets and brown dwarfs in star forming regions and young open clusters

The Monitor project

1 www.ast.cam.ac.uk/∼suz/monitor/monitor.php

is a large scale photometric monitoring survey of ten star forming regions and open clusters aged between 1 and 200 Myr using wide‐field optical cameras on 2–4 m telescopes worldwide. The primary goal of the project is to search for close‐in planets and brown dwarfs at young ages through the detection of transit events. Such detections would provide unprecedented constraints on planet formation and migration time‐scales, as well as on evolutionary models of planets and brown dwarfs in an age range where such constraints are very scarce. Additional science goals include rotation period measurements and the analysis of flares and accretion‐related variability. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Background discrimination capabilities of a heat and ionization germanium cryogenic detector

The discrimination capabilities of a 70 g heat and ionization Ge bolometer are studied. This first prototype has been used by the EDELWEISS dark matter experiment, installed in the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane, for direct detection of WIMPs. Gamma and neutron calibrations demonstrate that this type of detector is able to reject more than 99.6% of the background while retaining 95% of the signal, provided that the background events distribution is not biased towards the surface of the Ge crystal. However, the 1.17 kg day of data taken in a relatively important radioactive environment show an extra population slightly overlapping the signal. This background is likely due to interactions of low energy photons or electrons near the surface of the crystal, and is somewhat reduced by applying a higher charge-collecting inverse bias voltage (−6 V instead of −2 V) to the Ge diode. Despite this contamination, more than 98% of the background can be rejected while retaining 50% of the signal. This yields a conservative upper limit of 0.7 event day⁻¹ kg⁻¹ keV_recoil⁻¹ at 90% confidence level in the 15–45 keV recoil energy interval; the present sensitivity appears to be limited by the fast ambient neutrons. Upgrades in progress on the installation are summarized.