XENON Dark Matter Project

2008/09/05

"Limits on spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross-sections from the XENON10 experiment" was published in Phys. Rev. Lett.

2008/07/23

After a long waiting time, the Kr distillation column was finally delivered to LNGS. Kr-85 is one intrinsic radioactive source in Xe. The XENON100 experiment's sensitivity goal requires a Kr/Xe contamination level lower than 50 ppt. The current Kr/Xe contamination level in XENON100 is about 5 ppb. Cryogenic distillation through the new column, which will take about two weeks for the 170 kg Xe in the detector, will reduce the Kr/Xe level by three orders of magnitude, making the Kr-85 contribution to the XENON100 total background negligible.

2008/04/20

XENON100 Poster was presented at the APS spring meeting. It gives a good overview about XENON Program and the basics of XENON100 experiment.

2008/02/22

XENON100 detector construction completed. See Elena Aprile's presentation at the UCLA Dark Matter 2008 conference.

2008/01/17

"First Results from the XENON10 Dark Matter Experiment at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory" was published in Phys. Rev. Lett.

2007/12/15

Columbia University Ground Breaking Work: Elena Aprile (Physics/Applied Physics), This new device can detect dark matter, the never-found state of matter that current theory says should make up 90 percent of the universe.

2007/11/14

Discover: The 6 Most Important Experiments in the World

2007/08/12

USA Today: Researchers use high-tech machines to detect mysterious dark matter

2007/07/18

Nature: Unseen Universe: Welcome to the dark side

2007/04/17

Nature: Dark matter looks to be particularly wimpy

2007/04/14
XENON10 results from a 3 month WIMP search run at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory announced at the APS April Meeting. The solid red curve is the lastest XENON10 result.