Princeton University Dark Cosmos Seminar

Abstract: Dark Matter remains a profound mystery at the intersection of particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. While searches have made significant progress, particularly for dark matter in the form Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, or WIMPS, dark matter has so far been observed solely through its gravitational effects. After touching on the cosmological and astrophysical underpinnings, I will discuss the experimental challenges in searching for WIMPs and how we are meeting them a series of massive liquid-xenon detectors. I will discuss the current status of our search using the LZ detector, with a look ahead to follow-on experiments to push the sensitivity to smaller cross sections and masses.