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Statistical Testing for Dark Matter Detectors
Nuclear and Particle Physics
Westerdale, Shawn
Dark matter comprises the majority of matter in the universe. Despite its abundance, however, it is very poorly understood. One of the leading candidates for dark matter is Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). WIMP detection experiments require very low levels of background as well as precise analysis techniques to distinguish between background and signal events. Most WIMP detection experiments performed thus far have placed limits on WIMP energy levels without being able to positively identify a signal. This poster presents results showing the MiniCLEAN dark matter experiment's sensitivity, using Poisson statistics. Further studies will investigate how this limit changes with various other statistical analysis techniques.