Maricke Flierman, PhD at Nikhef, will defend her thesis Friday 10 July 2026 at 14.00 at the University of Amsterdam.
“Too Rare or Not Too Rare: Rare event searches in dual-phase xenon TPCs”
In particle physics, we are searching for the fundamental building blocks of the universe; the question: what is the universe made of?. The so-called “Standard Model” (SM) has taken us a long way, but there are still quite a few phenomena that we cannot fully explain using the SM. One of these questions is why there is so much more matter than antimatter around us. The answer to this question may lie in very rare types of interactions, including what is known as “neutrinoless double beta decay.” In this dissertation, we discuss how a specific type of detector, namely, a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber (TPC), might be able to detect this interaction. Because it is a very rare interaction, it is essential that we understand all possible background signals in the detector as thoroughly as possible. In that context, we discuss how a new type of light sensor could be used for this purpose in a future detector. In addition, we have investigated how we can best model a specific type of “neutron-induced” background. So, no answer (yet) to the original question, but it brings us a little bit closer.
The defense will take place in the Aula of the Lutherse kerk, Singel 411, 1012 WN Amsterdam.
More information and a link to the livestream on the website of the UvA.
Supervisors: prof. dr. A.P. Colijn and prof. dr. M.P. Decowski
Contact: Maricke Flierman
