Science Reach of the SuperCDMS SNOLAB Experiment

The goal of the SuperCDMS experiment is the understanding of dark matter: what it is, where it is, how it interacts with Standard Model particles, and what is its role in the evolution and fate of the universe. The SuperCDMS SNOLAB project has been selected by the NSF and DOE as a G2 dark matter project and is currently in the process of construction. The SuperCDMS SNOLAB sensitivity projections are determined based on an estimate of the expected backgrounds, a detector response model, and a method for calculating the sensitivity reach based on the total observed background rate post cuts.

The University of Florida group proposes to develop and refine the analysis tools use for determining the sensitivity projections of the SuperCDMS SNOLAB experiment, and ultimately once data begins arriving, the actual exclusion limits (or detection regions of interest). The proposed effort will include creating a detailed detector response model based on input from the SuperCDMS Detector Monte-Carlo simulation and upcoming SuperCDMS calibration program. We also plan on quantifying the effect of the uncertainty in the knowledge of the ionization yield in Si and Ge at low energy, taking into account the quantum mechanical nature of the ionization process, which is explicitly absent from the widely used Lindhard theory. Finally, we will update the sensitivity calculation method from one that relies solely on the total background rate (post cuts) and an Optimum Interval analysis to one that makes use of the detailed knowledge of the backgrounds, i.e. implementing more sophisticated background ``subtraction'' techniques.