Prospects In Rare-event-searches with Advanced Transition Edge Sensors

Objective

A direct detection of dark matter (DM) particles and possibly of new fundamental forces will revolutionize our understanding of the most basic building blocks of nature. Direct DM search programs cover particle masses from TeV/c2 down to MeV/c2 at present but do not provide an uncontroversial signal. In the low-mass regime, low-temperature detectors have demonstrated the required performance and keep exploring new regions of parameter space; they are best suited to probe the existence of novel particles and theories. PIRATES builds on the recent advances of low-temperature detectors to provide ultimate performance for a broad direct DM search program with low thresholds. PIRATES integrates three key projects. Firstly, optimization of a novel quantum sensors layout for NaI-based low-temperature detectors to perform a model-independent cross-check of the controversial DM claim of DAMA/LIBRA by means of the COSINUS experiment. COSINUS is a new direct dark matter experiment currently commissioned in the Gran Sasso underground site under my leadership. Secondly, capitalizing on this extremely sensitive sensor design to read out so far unusable target materials and to mitigate detector-related backgrounds (Low Energy Excess, LEE) that block progress in current low-mass DM searches. Thirdly, fabricating low-temperature quantum sensors for the first time ever from single crystal tungsten bulk material to boost copious fabrication thereof and reach ground-breaking sensitivities for probing, in the next decade, vast regions of unexplored DM parameter space. PIRATES will be based on my profound expertise in low-temperature detectors and will consolidate my leading role in direct DM search.