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Welcome to the Astroparticle Physics Group

AG Marc Schumann

We conduct experimental research to solve some of the most challenging mysteries in modern physics: the discovery and subsequent characterization of dark matter. So far, dark matter has not yet been detected directly and the expected interaction rate in our detectors is extremely small. We develop and operate detectors with an extremely low background to search for dark matter.

The group is involved in several experimental projects

  • XENON: The collaboration operates XENONnT, one of  the worlds largest and most-sensitive dark matter detectors at the Italian LNGS underground laboratory.
  • DARWIN: DARWIN will be the ultimate liquid-xenon based dark matter detector, capable to explore the entire experimentally accessible WIMP dark matter parameter space. ULTIMATE was an ERC-funded R&D project towards DARWIN.
  • SHiP: The future SHiP experiment at CERN will search for Hidden-Sector particles that are produced by shooting 400 GeV protons onto a massive beam dump.
  • DELight: is a proposed novel project to search for light dark matter with a liquid helium target
  • Low-background detectors: The group develops components and methods to optimize liquid xenon detectors for rare event searches and to further decrease their background from radioactivity.
  • Data Acquisition and Electronics (DAQ): We develop fast and intelligent data acquisition electronics and systems to read out particle detectors.
  • COMPASS: The COMPASS experiment at CERN studies the spin-structure of the proton.
  • CAST: The CAST experiment at CERN searched for dark matter in the form of axions, which might be emitted by the Sun. The project was concluded 2022.

The astroparticle physics group...

Group Event September 2021
From left to right: Florian, Marc, Mariana, Robin, Jaron, JuliaM, Darryl, JuliaD, Francesco, Arianna, Oscar, Justin, Daniel, Johannes, Diego, guest, Sebastian, Adam, Ivy [missing] Horst, Fabian, Alexey, Tim