Searches for dark matter particles are expected to dramatically improve in sensitivity over the next decade. One of the new techniques is a revival of the bubble chamber, an instrument previously thought to be obsolete. The conventional bubble chambers responsible for discoveries in particle physics from the 1950's-80's would be unsuitable for detection of Weakly Interacting Massive dark matter Particles (WIMPs), due to instabilities and high backgrounds from environmental radiation. However, with alternative designs, these problems may be overcome, allowing the economical construction of very large, low background detectors. The COUPP collaboration has deployed a bubble chamber containing 4 kg of trifluoroiodomethane (CF3I) target liquid, proving the feasibility of this approach and demonstrating leading sensitivity to spin-dependent WIMP-nucleus scattering. A larger, 60-kg chamber has been built and is expected to be deployed soon at the SNOLAB underground laboratory.
Argonne Physics Division Colloquium Schedule