ANAIS-112
Spanish dark matter direct detection experiment / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ANAIS (Annual modulation with NaI Scintillators) is a dark matter direct detection experiment located at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC), in Spain, operated by a team of researchers of the CAPA at the University of Zaragoza.
Legal status | Taking data since 03-08-2017 |
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Purpose | Testing the positive annual modulation signal reported by DAMA/LIBRA |
Headquarters | Canfranc Underground Laboratory, Spain |
Fields | Dark Matter search, Astroparticle Physics |
Website | https://gifna.unizar.es/anais/ |
ANAIS' goal is to confirm or refute in a model independent way the DAMA/LIBRA[1][2][3] experiment positive result: an annual modulation in the low-energy detection rate having all the features expected for the signal induced by weakly interacting dark matter particles (WIMPs) in a standard galactic halo. This modulation is produced as a result of the Earth rotation around the Sun. A modulation with all the characteristic of a Dark Matter (DM) signal has been observed for about 20 years by DAMA/LIBRA, but it is in strong tension with the negative results of other DM direct detection experiments.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Compatibility among the different experimental results in most conventional WIMP-DM scenarios is actually disfavored,[20][21] but it is strongly dependent on the DM particle and halo models considered. A comparison using the same target material, NaI(Tl), is more direct and almost model-independent.