NEWS

The NEWS project is dedicated to the direct search for very-low mass Dark Matter particles named WIMPs, from 0.1 to 10 GeV. Given the recent absence of evidence at LHC for SUSY and departure from the standard model of particle physics, the Dark Matter, an essential ingredient for understanding our Universe, appears as one of the only evidence for new physics. In particular, in a number of new models, the preferred particle candidates are less massive than anticipated. Searches for such light Dark Matter require new detection technology. The goal is to build a large (2 m diameter) radio-pure spherical gaseous detector that will operate at SNOLAB underground environment with the aim of reaching a much higher sensitivity for light Dark Matter search than any other experiment. The biggest part of the budget (2 M$) is already, thanks to a grant of excellence, assured by Queen’s University and it will be dedicated to the vessel and the infrastructure. The ANR request concerns the most critical parts required to reach the expected performance: the low-radioactivity sensor, the electronics, the DAQ and the calibration system. An existing detector at LSM underground laboratory will act as a prototype, where the upgrades for the SNOLAB detector will be validated. Indeed the very competitive background level reached by this detector, compared to existing experiments, makes it an ideal facility for testing key components of the SNOLAB project. The main characteristics of the detector are: sub-keV energy threshold, fiducialisation and background rejection by pulse shape analysis, ability to operate at pressures up to 10 bars, tens of kg of gas with various light targets such as H, He and Ne nuclei. Such a detector will have an unprecedented sensitivity to address the 0.1-10 GeV mass range of particles with spin independent nucleon cross section as low as 10-6 pb. We would like to point out that, for a modest cost, this project could have extraordinary scientific impact.