Advanced analysis and background techniques for the cryogenic dark matter search.

Abstract

The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) used Ge and Si detectors, operated at 50mK, to look for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) which may make up most of the dark matter in our universe. This dissertation describes the simulation, analysis, and results of the first WIMP-search data runs of the CDMS experiment between October 2006 and July 2007 with its 5 Towers of detectors at the Soudan Underground Laboratory. A blind analysis, incorporating improved techniques for event reconstruction and data quality monitoring, resulted in zero observed events. The results of this work place the most stringent limits yet set upon the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross section for WIMP masses above 44 GeV/c<super>2</super>, as well as setting competitive limits on spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon interactions.