Speaker
Description
The NEWS-G experiment searches for low-mass dark matter candidates at SNOLAB in Sudbury, Ontario. This direct dark matter search is performed using a spherical proportional counter filled with low atomic mass gases, such as 98% neon + 2% methane. The detector consists of a grounded copper sphere with a high-voltage anode in the centre, which detects ionization within the gas. The inner surface of the sphere is contaminated with Pb-210, which decays to the alpha-emitter Po-210. After each background alpha decay, space charge effects cause the event rate in the detector to increase, creating an "alpha tail". One set of runs covered a period when the gas quality in the detector was worsening. Analysis of the event rate uncovered a relationship, with worsening gas quality increasing the alpha tail. I will describe the experiment, and present its existing results and current status, and my analysis of the alpha tails. Greater understanding of the alpha tails may elucidate the cause of the detector's most common background events, single-electron ones, suggesting a valuable focus for future work.
| Your current academic level, | PhD student |
|---|---|
| Your Email | jon.clarke@queensu.ca |
| Affiliation | Queen's University, Kingston, Canada |
| Supervisor | Guillaume Giroux |
| Supervisor Email | gg42@queensu.ca |
