Low energy electron recoil searches with the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment for beyond the Standard Model physics
dc.contributor.advisor
Murphy, Alex
dc.contributor.advisor
Shaw, Sally
dc.contributor.advisor
Clark, Philip
dc.contributor.advisor
Gambetta, Silvia
dc.contributor.author
Riyat, Harkirat Singh
dc.date.accessioned
2025-07-25T10:27:47Z
dc.date.available
2025-07-25T10:27:47Z
dc.date.issued
2025-07-25
dc.description.abstract
One of the biggest open questions in physics is confirming the fundamental nature
of dark matter, an elusive type of matter that is measured to contain up to 84%
of the calculable mass in the universe. There is currently no known way to
observe dark matter directly; consequently, all current evidence for dark matter
and its contributions to the total measured mass comes from indirect observations,
which look for the gravitational impact of dark matter’s presence throughout the
universe. Through the construction of detectors in recent years, experiments aim
to observe dark matter directly on Earth instead of searching the cosmos.
The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment is the foremost of these direct searches
for dark matter. It is based at the Sanford Underground Research Facility
(SURF) in South Dakota. Using a dual-phase time projection chamber detector
that contains 7 tonnes of xenon for dark matter searches, LZ has set worldleading
results for Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) interactions with
nucleons. LZ’s signal-discrimination ability from extensive calibration campaigns
makes it sensitive to additional signals and processes beyond traditional WIMP
interactions that are not just dark-matter candidates, allowing for expanded
physics searches to be carried out. One of these searches looks for low-energy
electron recoil signals, which are a potential method of interaction for Beyond
Standard Model (BSM) particles within LZ.
This thesis will discuss the work done by the author for low-energy electron recoil
searches in LZ and present the results from these searches using LZ’s first and
third science runs. One of the low-energy electron recoil models, solar-axions,
will be investigated more closely with a study on expanding the solar axion
model to include additional production methods and interactions. This thesis
will also discuss the development of cuts aimed at tagging and removing events
that correspond to periods of excess noise within the time projection chamber
and outer detector of LZ.
en
dc.identifier.uri
https://hdl.handle.net/1842/43726
dc.identifier.uri
http://dx.doi.org/10.7488/era/6259
dc.language.iso
en
en
dc.publisher
The University of Edinburgh
en
dc.relation.hasversion
J. Aalbers et al. Search for new physics in low-energy electron recoils from the first LZ exposure. Physical Review. D, 108:072006, Oct 2023. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.108.072006. URL https://link.aps.org/doi/10. 1103/PhysRevD.108.072006
en
dc.relation.hasversion
J. Aalbers et al. Dark Matter Search Results from 4.2 Tonne−Years of Exposure of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment. Physical Review. D, 108:072006, Oct 2023. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.135.011802. URL https://link.aps.org/doi/10. 1103/PhysRevD.135.011802
en
dc.subject
Dark Matter
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dc.subject
LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ)
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dc.subject
Low-Energy Electron Recoil
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dc.subject
Beyond Standard Model (BSM)
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dc.subject
Solar Axions
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dc.title
Low energy electron recoil searches with the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment for beyond the Standard Model physics
en
dc.type
Thesis or Dissertation
en
dc.type.qualificationlevel
Doctoral
en
dc.type.qualificationname
PhD Doctor of Philosophy
en
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