MG12 - Talk detail
 

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Abstract

Underground Gravity-Gradient Noise and Gravitational-Wave Detectors

The surface-based gravitational-wave detectors, such as LIGO and Virgo, are limited to operate above ~10 Hz. The seismic motion and the fluctuations in the local gravitational field (gravity gradient noise) are among the dominant noise sources at frequencies below 10 Hz. While it is expected that both of these noise sources would be suppressed underground, careful studies are needed to quantify such suppression. After briefly reviewing the scientific motivation for probing the 0.1-10 Hz band, I will describe our ongoing efforts at the Homestake mine, USA to characterize the amplitudes and correlation lengths of the seismic and gravity-gradient noise as a function of depth and frequency. I will summarize our recent results and their implications for a future underground gravitational-wave detector.

Results from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) Experiment

The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment is designed to search for Dark Matter in the form of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). CDMS detectors, based on Ge or Si substrates with ionization and phonon sensors, provide very effective event-by-event rejection of the dominant photon and electron backgrounds. Such background rejection, combined with operation at a deep site at the Soudan Underground Laboratory, has led to an upper limit on the WIMP-nucleon elastic scattering cross-section. We report on the latest results from the CDMS II experiment.

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