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CDMS research group at the University of Zurich |
Over the past decade, the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment has provided world-leading sensitivity for the direct detection of weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter. The final exposure of our low-temperature germanium particle detectors at the Soudan Underground Laboratory yielded two candidate events, with an expected background of 0.9±0.2 events. The probability of observing two or more background events is 23%. Thus, this is not a statistically significant evidence for a WIMP signal. Constraints on the WIMP-parameter space are shown in the following figure. Our data set an upper limit on the WIMP-nucleon elastic-scattering spin-independent cross-section (red/solid) of 7.0x10-44 cm2 for a WIMP of mass 70 GeV/c2 at the 90% confidence level. Combining this result with all previous CDMS II data gives an upper limit on the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross-section (black/solid) of 3.8x10-44 cm2 for a WIMP of mass 70 GeV/c2.  We also exclude new parameter space in recently proposed inelastic dark matter models. As shown in the next figure the CDMS data disfavor all but a narrow region of the parameter space allowed by DAMA/LIBRA that resides at a WIMP mass of ~100 GeV/c2 and mass splittings of 80-140 keV.  Our group is mainly involved in data analysis and calculating constraints on various dark matter candidates like Axions and WIMPs emerging from Universal Extra Dimensions. More information about the experiment as well as links to recent publications can be found on the CDMS webpage. CDMS in the news: Nature Slashdot BBC Science UF PR |