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From YouTube: Direct dark matter searches with the LZ experiment, Quinten Riffard

Description

Many astrophysical observations support the existence of a dark matter component in our universe. However, after a few decades of active research, the nature of dark matter remains elusive. In this context, the LZ experiment aims to detect dark matter using a multi-tonne detector filled with liquid xenon and located at the SURF underground laboratory. We expect a handful of signal events over a significant background during the five years of operation in such a detector. Observing deviation from the background model would sign a dark matter detection. Hence, the LZ collaboration is engaged in a great effort of developing a robust signal and background model using Monte-Carlo simulation. Simulating such a detector requires the usage of any computing available. Therefore, we developed a framework to take advantage of all the HTC (PDFS) and HPC (EDISON and CORI) resources available at NERSC for the second and third mock data challenges. Using a centralized job submission system, containerization technologies, and software distribution service (CVMFS) made it possible.