Detecting Dark Matter
One of the outstanding questions that current exists in cosmology is that we know very little about what makes up the universe. Dark matter accounts for about 1/4 of the total matter in the universe, yet its nature and properties are still a mystery. Direct detection of dark matter has yet to be observed.
The MIT Neutrino and Dark Matter group is also involved in the direct detection of dark matter. Our group employs a method by which the energy and direction of dark matter is recorded. Because dark matter and most backgrounds have very distinct directional signatures, such a technique is very powerful in discriminating dark matter candidates from other types of interactions.
A prototype experiment is currently being constructed here at MIT's campus. Our group also works very closely with the DRIFT experiment.
Members of the group also collaborate on the MiniCLEAN experiment, a liquid argon dark matter detector located more than a mile underground in SNOLAB, which is designed to search for nuclear recoils produced by elastic scattering of dark matter particles.
