Observing a light dark matter beam with neutrino experiments
| dc.contributor.author | DeNiverville, Patrick | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Ritz, Adam | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2011-08-18T17:45:45Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2011-08-18T17:45:45Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2011 | en_US |
| dc.date.issued | 2011-08-18 | |
| dc.degree.department | Dept. of Physics and Astronomy | en_US |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Science M.Sc. | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | We consider the sensitivity of high luminosity neutrino experiments to light stable states, as arise in scenarios of MeV-scale dark matter. To ensure the correct thermal relic abundance, such states must annihilate to the Standard model via light mediators, providing a portal for access to the dark matter state in colliders or fixed targets. This framework implies that neutrino beams produced at a fixed target will also carry an additional “dark matter beam”, which can mimic neutrino scattering off electrons or nuclei in the detector. We therefore develop a Monte Carlo code to simulate the production of a dark matter beam at two proton fixed-target facilities with high luminosity, LSND and MiniBooNE, and with this simulation determine the existing limits on light dark matter. We find in particular that MeV-scale dark matter scenarios motivated by an explanation of the galactic 511 keV line are strongly constrained. | en_US |
| dc.description.scholarlevel | Graduate | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1828/3472 | |
| dc.language | English | eng |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.rights.temp | Available to the World Wide Web | en_US |
| dc.subject | Dark Matter | en_US |
| dc.subject | Particle Physics | en_US |
| dc.subject | Fixed Target | en_US |
| dc.subject | LSND | en_US |
| dc.subject | MiniBooNE | en_US |
| dc.subject | High Luminosity | en_US |
| dc.subject | Dark Matter Beam | en_US |
| dc.title | Observing a light dark matter beam with neutrino experiments | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |