Search

Projections of future climate are sensitive to the representation of upper-ocean diurnal variability, including the diurnal cycle of winds. Two different methods suitable for time series with missing data are used here to characterize how observed diurnal winds vary over the year. One is based on diurnal composites of mooring data, and the other is based on harmonic analysis via a least squares fit and is able to isolate annual (i.e., 1 cycle per year) modulation of diurnal variability. Results show that the diurnal amplitude in meridional winds is larger than in zonal winds and peaks in the tropical Pacific, where diurnal variability in zonal winds is overall weaker compared to other basins. Furthermore, the amplitude and phasing of diurnal winds in the tropical oceans are not uniform in time, with overall larger differences through the year in the meridional component of tropical winds. Estimating the annual modulation of the diurnal signal implies resolving both the diurnal energy peak and also the modulation of this peak by the annual cycle. This leads to a recommendation for sampling at least 6 times per day and for a duration of at least 3 years.

Sodium Iodide Thallium doped (NaI(Tl)) scintillation detectors have been applied to the direct searches for dark matter since the 1980s and have produced one of the most challenging results in the field—the observation by the DAMA/LIBRA collaboration of an annual modulation in the detection rate for more than twenty cycles. This result is very difficult to reconcile with negative results derived from other experiments using a large variety of target materials and detection techniques. However, it has been neither confirmed nor refuted in a model independent way up to the present. Such a model independent test of the DAMA/LIBRA result is the goal of the ANAIS-112 experiment, presently in the data taking phase at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory in Spain. ANAIS-112 design and operation leans on the expertise acquired at the University of Zaragoza in direct searches for Dark Matter particles using different targets and techniques and in particular using NaI(Tl) scintillation detectors for about thirty years, which are reviewed in the first section of this manuscript. In addition to presenting the status and more recent results of the ANAIS-112 experiment, open research lines, continuing this effort, will be presented.

Numerous astrophysical observations point to the existence of dark matter,making up about a quarter of the mass-energy budget of the Universe.Although its exact nature is unknown,the quest for dark matter has been a long-standing journeyin physics.The most popular dark matter model is theweakly massive interacting particle (WIMP).The majority of the direct detection dark matter experimentssearches for rare nuclear collisions between the WIMPsand the target nucleiin low background detectors located deep underground.No conclusive detection of nuclear recoil (NR) dark matter interactionshas been reported up to date.A compelling feature predicted by various dark matter modelsis the annual and diurnal modulations in the interaction rates measured by the dark matter detectorsas a result of the Earth’s motion in the halo.The DAMA experiment has observed an annualevent rate modulation in the low energy (2-6 keV) regime of theelectron recoil (ER) eventsfor two decades. Motivated by that,a search for both annual and diurnal rate modulations in the low energyER events was performed by theLarge Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment.LUX is a liquid xenon (LXe)-based dark matter detector locatedat the 4850 ft level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF)in Lead, South Dakota, USA. LUX operated in WIMP search modebetween 2013 and 2016, finding no evidence for WIMP NR interactions.The analysis steps and results of the search forannual and diurnal modulations in the LUX experiment are presentedin great detail.LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ)experiment is a second generation dark matter direct detection experiment, which iscurrently being constructed at SURF and on track for commissioning in 2020.LZ will containabout 10 tonnes of LXe, which is more than that of LUX by nearly a factor of 30,in order to reach an unprecedented WIMP detection sensitivity.Another distinctive characteristic of LZ isthe large gadolinium-loaded liquid scintillator (GdLS) volume ($\sim$17 tonnes)held by acrylic tanks

Numerous astrophysical observations point to the existence of dark matter,making up about a quarter of the mass-energy budget of the Universe.Although its exact nature is unknown,the quest for dark matter has been a long-standing journeyin physics.The most popular dark matter model is theweakly massive interacting particle (WIMP).The majority of the direct detection dark matter experimentssearches for rare nuclear collisions between the WIMPsand the target nucleiin low background detectors located deep underground.No conclusive detection of nuclear recoil (NR) dark matter interactionshas been reported up to date.A compelling feature predicted by various dark matter modelsis the annual and diurnal modulations in the interaction rates measured by the dark matter detectorsas a result of the Earth’s motion in the halo.The DAMA experiment has observed an annualevent rate modulation in the low energy (2-6 keV) regime of theelectron recoil (ER) eventsfor two decades. Motivated by that,a search for both annual and diurnal rate modulations in the low energyER events was performed by theLarge Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment.LUX is a liquid xenon (LXe)-based dark matter detector locatedat the 4850 ft level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF)in Lead, South Dakota, USA. LUX operated in WIMP search modebetween 2013 and 2016, finding no evidence for WIMP NR interactions.The analysis steps and results of the search forannual and diurnal modulations in the LUX experiment are presentedin great detail.LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ)experiment is a second generation dark matter direct detection experiment, which iscurrently being constructed at SURF and on track for commissioning in 2020.LZ will containabout 10 tonnes of LXe, which is more than that of LUX by nearly a factor of 30,in order to reach an unprecedented WIMP detection sensitivity.Another distinctive characteristic of LZ isthe large gadolinium-loaded liquid scintillator (GdLS) volume ($\sim$17 tonnes)held by acrylic tanks

The identification of dark matter is one of the outstanding problems of our time. Cos- mological and astrophysical clues such as structure formation and relic densities, anomalous galaxy rotation curves, and mass density profiles provide ample evidence of an undetected mass component of the universe. Meanwhile, recent advancements in particle physics point toward extensions to the Standard Model, many of which posit candidates for new particles and new physics at the weak scale and beyond. If, as expected, the confluence of the hints of new physics in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology at the weak scale is more than coincidence, the detection of dark matter will pave the way for a paradigm shift in our fundamental understanding of the universe.Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), in particular, are a well-motivated class of candidates for particle dark matter. Naturally predicted in supersymmetry (SUSY), WIMPs are stable, weakly-interacting, and produced in sufficient abundance to comprise the quantity of missing mass in a number of simple cases. Over the last two decades of experimentation, significant areas of the parameter space defined by the simplest SUSY theories have been ruled out, but WIMPs and related particles remain compelling candidates for dark matter searches.Several avenues for the detection and identification of dark matter are currently being pursued. The present work is a description of the search for a direct detection of super- symmetric dark matter via scattering from standard model particles. The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) Experiment uses ionization and athermal phonon sensor technolo- gies to achieve event-by-event discrimination of electron and nuclear recoils in cryogenic germanium crystal detectors. At low energies, where the the ability to discriminate individ- ual nuclear recoil events from background is reduced, a periodic variation of the rate and crossover signatures in the energy spectrum can aid the iden

CUORE is a tonne-scale cryogenic detector operating at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) that uses tellurium dioxide bolometers to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of 130Te. CUORE is also suitable to search for low energy rare events such as solar axions or WIMP scattering, thanks to its ultra-low background and large target mass. However, to conduct such sensitive searches requires improving the energy threshold to 10 keV. In this paper, we describe the analysis techniques developed for the low energy analysis of CUORE-like detectors, using the data acquired from November 2013 to March 2015 by CUORE-0, a single-tower prototype designed to validate the assembly procedure and new cleaning techniques of CUORE. We explain the energy threshold optimization, continuous monitoring of the trigger efficiency, data and event selection, and energy calibration at low energies in detail. We also present the low energy background spectrum of CUORE-0 below 60keV. Finally, we report the sensitivity of CUORE to WIMP annual modulation using the CUORE-0 energy threshold and background, as well as an estimate of the uncertainty on the nuclear quenching factor from nuclear recoils inCUORE-0.

The identification of dark matter is one of the outstanding problems of our time. Cos- mological and astrophysical clues such as structure formation and relic densities, anomalous galaxy rotation curves, and mass density profiles provide ample evidence of an undetected mass component of the universe. Meanwhile, recent advancements in particle physics point toward extensions to the Standard Model, many of which posit candidates for new particles and new physics at the weak scale and beyond. If, as expected, the confluence of the hints of new physics in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology at the weak scale is more than coincidence, the detection of dark matter will pave the way for a paradigm shift in our fundamental understanding of the universe.Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), in particular, are a well-motivated class of candidates for particle dark matter. Naturally predicted in supersymmetry (SUSY), WIMPs are stable, weakly-interacting, and produced in sufficient abundance to comprise the quantity of missing mass in a number of simple cases. Over the last two decades of experimentation, significant areas of the parameter space defined by the simplest SUSY theories have been ruled out, but WIMPs and related particles remain compelling candidates for dark matter searches.Several avenues for the detection and identification of dark matter are currently being pursued. The present work is a description of the search for a direct detection of super- symmetric dark matter via scattering from standard model particles. The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) Experiment uses ionization and athermal phonon sensor technolo- gies to achieve event-by-event discrimination of electron and nuclear recoils in cryogenic germanium crystal detectors. At low energies, where the the ability to discriminate individ- ual nuclear recoil events from background is reduced, a periodic variation of the rate and crossover signatures in the energy spectrum can aid the iden

CUORE is a tonne-scale cryogenic detector operating at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) that uses tellurium dioxide bolometers to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of 130Te. CUORE is also suitable to search for low energy rare events such as solar axions or WIMP scattering, thanks to its ultra-low background and large target mass. However, to conduct such sensitive searches requires improving the energy threshold to 10 keV. In this paper, we describe the analysis techniques developed for the low energy analysis of CUORE-like detectors, using the data acquired from November 2013 to March 2015 by CUORE-0, a single-tower prototype designed to validate the assembly procedure and new cleaning techniques of CUORE. We explain the energy threshold optimization, continuous monitoring of the trigger efficiency, data and event selection, and energy calibration at low energies in detail. We also present the low energy background spectrum of CUORE-0 below 60keV. Finally, we report the sensitivity of CUORE to WIMP annual modulation using the CUORE-0 energy threshold and background, as well as an estimate of the uncertainty on the nuclear quenching factor from nuclear recoils inCUORE-0.

ANAIS (Annual modulation with NAI Scintillators) experiment aims to look for dark matter annual modulation with 250 kg of ultra-pure NaI(Tl) scintillators at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC), in order to confirm the DAMA/LIBRA positive signal in a model-independent way. The detector will consists in an array of close-packed single modules, each of them coupled to two high efficiency Hamamatsu photomultipliers. Two 12.5 kg each NaI(Tl) crystals provided by Alpha Spectra are currently taking data at the LSC. These modules have shown an outstanding light collection efficiency (12-16 phe/keV), about the double of that from DAMA/LIBRA phase 1 detectors, which could enable reducing the energy threshold down to 1 keVee. ANAIS crystal radiopurity goals are fulfilled for 232Th and 238U chains, assuming equilibrium, and in the case of 40K, present crystals activity (although not at the required 20 ppb level) could be acceptable. However, a 210Pb contamination out-of-equilibrium has been identified and its origin traced back, so we expect it will be avoided in next prototypes. Finally, current status and prospects of the experiment considering several exposure and background scenarios are presented.

This work reports a first attempt to measure the solar neutrino annual flux modulation due to Earth\'s elliptical orbit with the Borexino detector. Borexino is a real-time calorimetric detector for low energy neutrino spectroscopy located in the underground laboratory of Gran Sasso, Italy. The experiment\'s main focus is the direct measurement of the 7Be solar neutrino flux of all flavors via neutrino-electron scattering in an ultra-pure scintillation liquid. The original goal of this work was to quantify sensitivity of the Borexino detector to a 7% peak-to-peak signal variation over the course of a year and study background stability. A Monte-Carlo simulated sample of the expected variation was prepared in two phases of data acquisition, Phase I that spans from May-2007 to May-2010 and Phase II from October-2011 to September-2012. The data was then fitted in the time domain with a sinusoidal function and analyzed with the Lomb-Scargle fast Fourier transformation in the search for significant periodicities between periods of 0.5 and 1.5 years. The search was performed in the energy window dominated by 7Be, [210; 760] keV, and 60-day bins in the case of the fit and 10-bins for the Lomb-Scargle scan. This work also contains study of the post-purification data of Phase II beyond September-2012 with a prediction for the future sensitivity and justification of the achieved background levels.