PRESENT STATUS OF IGEX DARK MATTER SEARCH AT CANFRANC UNDERGROUND LABORATORY
/ Authors
I. Irastorza, A. Morales, C. Aalseth, F. Avignone, R. Brodzinski, J. Carmona, S. Cebrián, E. García, I. Kirpichnikov, A. Klimenko
and 14 more authors
G. Luzón, H. Miley, J. Morales, A. Solórzano, S. Osetrov, V. Pogosov, J. Puimedón, J. H. Reeves, M. Sarsa, A. Smolnikov, A. G. Tamanyan, A. Vasenko, S. Vasiliev, J. Villar
/ Abstract
One IGEX 76Ge double-beta decay detector is currently operating in the Canfranc Underground Laboratory in a search for dark matter WIMPs, through the Ge nuclear recoil produced by the WIMP elastic scattering. In this talk we report on the on-going efforts to understand and eventually reject the background at low energy. These efforts have led to the improvement of the neutron shielding and to partial reduction of the background, but still the remaining events are not totally identified. A tritium contamination or muon-induced neutrons are considered as possible sources, simulations and experimental test being still under progress. According to the success of this study we comment the prospects of the experiment as well as those of its future extension, the GEDEON dark matter experiment.
Journal: arXiv: Astrophysics