Dark Matter Searches with the LUX Experiment

Beltrame, Paolo "Dark Matter Searches with the LUX Experiment" in Proceedings, 11th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs (Axion-WIMP 2015) / Irastorza, Igor G., Redondo, Javier, Carmona, José Manuel, Cebrian, Susana, Dafni, Theopisti, Iguaz, Francisco J., Luzon, Gloria (eds.), Verlag Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron : 2015 ; AXION-WIMP 2015 : 11th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, 2015-06-22 - 2015-06-26, Zaragoza 11th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, AXION-WIMP 2015, Zaragoza, Spain, 22 Jun 2015 - 26 Jun 2015 ; DESY-PROC 11-15(2015). doi:10.3204/DESY-PROC-2015-02/beltrame_paolo
The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment is a 350 kg liquid xenon time projection chamber (TPC) whose primary goal is to directly detect galactic Dark Matter in form of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). The first LUX science search results based on 85.3\,day of data (Run3) collected in 2013 has set the best limit on spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross section, reaching a minimum of $7.6\,\times 10^{-46}\; \mathrm{cm}^2$ 90\% CL for WIMP mass of 33\,GeV/$\mathrm{c}^2$. While presently collecting a 300-day data set (Run4), the LUX collaboration is also performing the re-analysis of the Run3 sample with new calibration measurements for nuclear and electronic recoil events, and additional improvements of the analysis methods. Dual phase xenon based TPCs, although optimised to observe WIMPs, are particularly suitable for exploration of alternative Dark Matter scenarios, such as axions and axion-like particles. The present status of the ongoing searches in LUX is also described.
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