ARBRES · Active Rejection of Background in Rare Event Searches

ARBRES (Active Rejection of Background in Rare Event Searches) is a proposal for a 24-month Marie Curie fellowship dealing with a key topic in Astroparticle physics: the tagging, the control and the rejection of the radioactive background of surface origin in rare-event searches. The scientific objective of the proposal is to extend significantly the discovery potential of searches for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay and for WIMPs, hypothetical particles composing Dark Matter. The methods proposed here aim at improving the bolometric technique, by equipping low temperature calorimeters with thin films which enable the recognition of surface energy depositions. The fellow researcher, coming from a 4-year experience in rare event searches, will develop competencies in the technique of thin film deposition, low temperature solid state physics and detection of nuclear radiation, in a multidisciplinary framework. She will operate in a stimulating environment, in close connection with experiments at the forefront of Astroparticle physics (EDELWEISS and CUORE) and in a top-class host institution (Centre de Spectrometrie Nucleaire et Spectrometrie de Masse, Orsay, France), with a long experience in the development of technological solutions for the search for Dark Matter. She will also contribute to bridge the gap between the nearby Double Beta Decay and Dark Matter European communities. ARBRES will therefore support the future scientific career of the researcher by providing her with first-class technological competencies and stimulating her decision-making and leadership capabilities, in the framework of fundamental physics problems. Double Beta Decay and Dark Matter searches are at the centre of a hot international competition, given their relevance to understand basic properties of particles and forces and the structure of the Universe. Hence, the improvements provided by ARBRES will contribute to European excellence and competitiveness in a frontier research field.