Description:

Abstract: DAMA/LIBRA observation of an annual modulation in the detection rate compatible with that expected for dark matter is one of the most puzzling results in the present particle physics scenario. In this talk I will focus on the performance, present status and prospects of ANAIS-112 experiment, but I will briefly review the current status of the DAMA/LIBRA result testing by other experimental efforts.

ANAIS-112 experiment, using 112.5 kg of NaI(Tl) as target, is taking data at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory in Spain since August 2017. Results corresponding to 3 years were presented in 2021. These results are compatible with the absence of modulation and in tension with DAMA/LIBRA result. Moreover, they support our goal of reaching a 3σ sensitivity to the DAMA/LIBRA result with 5 years of data that will be accomplished along 2022. Moreover, we are developing an improved filtering for anomalous events dominating the detection rate below 2 keVee using machine-learning techniques, which, if successful, it could allow to achieve three  sigma sensitivity with the already available three-year exposure, and four sigma sensitivity with less than six-year exposure.

Speaker: María Luisa Sarsa, University of Zaragoza

Host: Michael Schmitt

To read more about Dr. Sarsa's research: https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.103.102005