First measurement of the Head-Tail directional nuclear recoil signature at energies relevant to WIMP dark matter searches
arXiv:0809.1831 · doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2009.02.003
Abstract
We present first evidence for the so-called Head-Tail asymmetry signature of neutron-induced nuclear recoil tracks at energies down to 1.5 keV/amu using the 1m^3 DRIFT-IIc dark matter detector. This regime is appropriate for recoils induced by Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMPs) but one where the differential ionization is poorly understood. We show that the distribution of recoil energies and directions induced here by Cf-252 neutrons matches well that expected from massive WIMPs. The results open a powerful new means of searching for a galactic signature from WIMPs.
4 pages, 6 figures, 1 table
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- Direction-sensitive dark matter search results in a surface laboratory
- First Results from the DRIFT-IIa Dark Matter Detector
- Observation of the 'head-tail' effect in nuclear recoils of low-energy neutrons
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Cited by in corpus (11)
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- Data acquisition electronics and reconstruction software for directional detection of Dark Matter with MIMAC
- Discretising the velocity distribution for directional dark matter experiments
- Measurement of directional range components of nuclear recoil tracks in a fiducialised dark matter detector
- Directionality and head-tail recognition in the keV-range with the MIMAC detector by deconvolution of the ionic signal
- Spin-Dependent Limits from the DRIFT-IId Directional Dark Matter Detector
- Primary track recovery in high-definition gas time projection chambers