Simulating a Dark Matter Detector in a Physics Classroom

• Matthew P. Wiesner ^[1] ; David Sederberg ^[2] ; Rafael Lang ^[2]
  1. [1] Benedictine University

     Benedictine University

     Township of Lisle, Estados Unidos

     
  2. [2] Purdue University

     Purdue University

     Township of Wabash, Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: The Physics Teacher, ISSN 0031-921X, Vol. 58, Nº. 2, 2020, págs. 108-112
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Dark matter comprises most of the matter in the universe, yet physicists are unsure of its nature. A significant effort is devoted in contemporary research to attempts to understand dark matter, making it a both captivating and relevant area of astrophysics to discuss in a classroom setting. What is more, the physics behind these experiments is familiar Newtonian momentum and energy conservation, connecting this cutting-edge research with the standard curriculum. In order to help students to explore the basic ideas behind dark matter detectors, we designed and built an experiment that communicates the main ideas of currently running dark matter detectors while using inexpensive ordinary materials. We focused primarily on the XENON1T dark matter experiment in our lesson, but other leading searches such as the LUX/LZ, Panda-X, and SuperCDMS detectors use identical or at least very similar principles. In this paper we describe XENON1T and how we built and implemented this analogy experiment for use in our outreach program, Saturday Morning Astrophysics at Purdue, a monthly program for students in grades 6-12.