Description:

• “Sub-GeV Dark Matter Reach In LXe-TPCs with Hydrogen Doping”
Dylan Temples, Northwestern University

Dark matter direct detection experiments seek to characterize dark matter (DM) through its interactions with Standard Model particles. In the high DM mass region (>5 GeV/c^2), these searches are led by two-phase xenon time-projection chambers (LXe-TPCs). Doping an LXe-TPC with hydrogen increases its sensitivity to low-mass DM, down to masses of hundreds of MeV/c^2, due to hydrogen recoils having a higher recoil energy than xenon for the same momentum transfer. This simultaneously grants significant reach into the spin-dependent DM-nucleon interaction for low mass DM, a region of parameter space that is not being probed by any existing or proposed experiment. In this talk, I will motivate hydrogen doping in LXe-TPCs, the efforts of an R&D campaign underway at Fermilab, and present projections for a hydrogen-doped LUX-ZEPLIN detector.

• “Balloons in Antarctica: BLAST-TNG, Star Formation and Magnetic Fields”
Paul Williams, Northwestern University

BLAST-TNG is a balloon borne telescope built to study the formation of stars. In this talk I will explain the basics of star formation from an observational and theoretical point of view. I will then talk about the design of BLAST-TNG and how it is uniquely qualified to help us answer outstanding questions in star formation. Finally, I will talk about our recent Antarctic campaign and upcoming flight.