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Joshua Berger (University of Pittsburgh)

Date: Tue. February 5th, 2019, 11:30 am-12:30 am
Location: Foldy Room

Searching for the dark sector in neutrino detectors
 
Abstract: Dark matter has thus far eluded attempts to determine its non-gravitational interactions, putting strong constraints on a minimal dark sector. I present models of non-minimal dark sectors that could elude current searches, but be seen in current or near future neutrino experiments. I begin by presenting a comprehensive, ongoing phenomenological study of models in which dark matter can annihilate into other forms of dark matter, leading to a flux of energetic (boosted) dark matter (BDM). Such dark matter could deposit enough energy to be detected in large neutrino detectors such as Super-Kamiokande and DUNE. I present the first Monte Carlo for event generation of BDM interacting in these detectors and preliminary results of an ongoing study of BDM at DUNE. I then discuss prospects for discovering long lived light scalars at the Fermilab Short Baseline experiments. Within some simple dark sector models, mesons produced in the Booster and NuMI beams at Fermilab could decay to scalars that travel into the neutrino detectors and decay into lepton pairs. I demonstrate the potential for improved sensitivity to these models at SBND and ICARUS.
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