Research Statement
Jocelyn Monroe's research is on searching for dark matter. Jocelyn collaborates on the DEAP/CLEAN direct detection experiment, a liquid argon dark matter detector located more than a mile underground in SNOLAB (in Sudbury, Ontario), with emphasis on distinguishing neutron scattering backgrounds from dark matter interaction signals. The goal of DEAP/CLEAN is to develop a kTonne-scale observatory for dark matter and solar neutrino physics. Jocelyn also works on developing a new kind of particle detector to search for the dark matter wind with the DMTPC collaboration at WIPP. The motion of the earth through the galaxy should create an apparent wind of dark matter particles, blowing opposite to the direction of the earth's motion. Detecting the dark matter wind direction is potentially a powerful discriminator between a dark matter signal and terrestrial backgrounds.
