Dark Matter Phenomenology
Currently, my particle physics research involves using SBNDs heightened sensitivity and new technologies to probe previously inaccessible areas of phase space for a vector portal light dark matter model. Therefore, the goal is to either detect dark matter or impose new world-best constraints on this model.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Heather Ray
Department: Physics, University of Florida
The above plot by Patrick de Niverville (University of Victoria) motivates the search for vector portal light dark matter in SBND. All shaded grey areas of the plot correspond to areas of the Lagrangian parameter space that have already been ruled out. Given some standard assumptions about the four main coupling constants of this model, one can see that, if this model is correct for the region of phase space shown, we should expect to see a significant number of events. My research involves providing an updated expect event count for the parameter space given SBND's specific geometry and protons on target (POT). After the data dump, we will be able to publish a new plot making a clear decision on whether the green area of phase space can be ruled out or not.
