Challenges and Rewards of the Search for Dark Matter with the XENON Project

For more than 20 years, she has been involved in the XENON experiment, an international collaboration searching for evidence of dark matter. The experiment uses highly sensitive detectors installed deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy, where scientists seek to detect the rare interactions that could reveal the nature of this still elusive form of matter.

In this talk, Elena Aprile will share her experience of the XENON Dark Matter Project, exploring the technical and scientific challenges faced throughout two decades of research, as well as the personal rewards of being part of this long-term international scientific endeavour.

About Elena Aprile

Elena Aprile is Professor of Physics at Columbia University and spokesperson for the XENON Dark Matter Collaboration. She received her PhD in Physics from the University of Geneva and has been a member of the Columbia Physics Department since joining the university faculty. Her research interests span high-energy nuclear and particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society.