Search

The PICASSO dark matter search experiment operated an array of 32 superheated droplet detectors containing 3.0 kg of C$_{4}$F$_{10}$ and collected an exposure of 231.4 kgd at SNOLAB between March 2012 and January 2014. We report on the final results of this experiment which includes for the first time the complete data set and improved analysis techniques including \mbox{acoustic} localization to allow fiducialization and removal of higher activity regions within the detectors. No signal consistent with dark matter was observed. We set limits for spin-dependent interactions on protons of $\sigma_p^{SD}$~=~1.32~$\times$~10$^{-2}$~pb (90\%~C.L.) at a WIMP mass of 20 GeV/c$^{2}$. In the spin-independent sector we exclude cross sections larger than $\sigma_p^{SI}$~=~4.86~$\times$~10$^{-5 }$~pb~(90\% C.L.) in the region around 7 GeV/c$^{2}$. The pioneering efforts of the PICASSO experiment have paved the way forward for a next generation detector incorporating much of this technology and experience into larger mass bubble chambers., Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures

The Project In CAnada to Search for Supersymmetric Objects (PICASSO) at SNOLAB searches for Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) interactions with 19 F. It is particularly sensitive to spin-dependent particle interactions. It uses a droplet technique, based on the principle of a bubble chamber, in which phase transitions in superheated liquids can be triggered by WIMP induced nuclear recoils. The detection process allows a highly e ffi cient suppression of backgrounds from cosmic muons, γ rays and electrons. Recent results and progress are presented and future plans to scale this technique to large masses with the PICO collaboration are briefly discussed.

New data are reported from a second run of the 2-liter PICO-2L C3F8 bubble chamber with a total exposure of 129 kg-days at a thermodynamic threshold energy of 3.3 keV. These data show that measures taken to control particulate contamination in the superheated fluid resulted in the absence of the anomalous background events observed in the first run of this bubble chamber. One single nuclear-recoil event was observed in the data, consistent both with the predicted background rate from neutrons and with the observed rate of unambiguous multiple-bubble neutron scattering events. The chamber exhibits the same excellent electron-recoil and alpha decay rejection as was previously reported. These data provide the most stringent direct detection constraints on weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP)-proton spin-dependent scattering to date for WIMP masses < 50 GeV/c(2)., The PICO Collaboration thanks SNOLAB for their exceptional laboratory space and technical support. We also thank Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for their support. This work is supported by the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Grants No. PHY-1242637, No. PHY-0919526, No. PHY-1205987, and No. PHY-1506377 and by the U.S. Department of Energy under Award No. DE-SC-0012161. We also acknowledge the support of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India, under the Center of AstroParticle Physics II project (CAPP-II) at Saha Institute of Physics (SINP); the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (Grant No. LM2011027); the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Consolider MultiDark (Grant No. CSD2009-00064) and DGAPA-UNAM through grant PAPIIT No. IA100316.

New results are reported from the operation of the PICO-60 dark matter detector, a bubble chamber filled with 52 kg of C_{3}F_{8} located in the SNOLAB underground laboratory. As in previous PICO bubble chambers, PICO-60 C_{3}F_{8} exhibits excellent electron recoil and alpha decay rejection, and the observed multiple-scattering neutron rate indicates a single-scatter neutron background of less than one event per month. A blind analysis of an efficiency-corrected 1167-kg day exposure at a 3.3-keV thermodynamic threshold reveals no single-scattering nuclear recoil candidates, consistent with the predicted background. These results set the most stringent direct-detection constraint to date on the weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP)-proton spin-dependent cross section at 3.4×10^{-41} cm^{2} for a 30-GeV c^{-2} WIMP, more than 1 order of magnitude improvement from previous PICO results.

The PICASSO and COUPP collaborations use superheated liquid detectors to search for cold dark matter through the direct detection of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). These experiments, located in the underground laboratory of SNOLAB, Canada, detect phase transitions triggered by nuclear recoils in the keV range induced by interactions with WIMPs. We present details of the construction and operation of these detectors as well as the results, obtained by several years of observations. We also introduce PICO, a joint effort of the two collaborations to build a second generation ton-scale bubble chamber with 250 liters of active liquid.