[en] Direction-sensitive WIMP detection is important for conclusively identifying a halo-WIMP signal. It would also make possible the study of galactic halo dynamics through WIMP astronomy. A large low-pressure Negative Ion TPC (NITPC) is the only technique presently known which is capable of direction sensitive WIMP detection. Several advances in NITPC technology reported here. A new capture agent (CH₃NO₃) with several advantages over the standard CS₂ is identified. Simulations with GARFIELD show that tracks completely contained within a single drift cell can be measured using the 'radial drift chamber' structure proposed by Nygren. DRIFT I neutron source calibration data is shown in which the 'head-tail' orientation of tracks is able to be determined

[en] We propose a dark matter detector based on scintillation in Xe gas at 5-10 bar pressure. Scintillation pulses are a factor 10 longer for alpha pulses than gamma pulses, and measurements in progress using neutron scattering indicate that the same difference applies to nuclear recoils, giving a 1E-6 rejection factor for electron recoil background. Light collection and background calculations indicate that dark matter sensitivity levels 1e-9 pb to 1E-10 pb would be achievable. Room temperature operation would enable Xe gas experiments >1 ton to be built at lower cost than current designs using liquid noble gases.

[en] Electroproduction of the omega meson was investigated in the p(e,e'p)omega reaction. The measurement was performed at a 4-momentum transfer Q2 ∼ 0.5 GeV2. Angular distributions of the virtual photon-proton center-of-momentum cross sections have been extracted over the full angular range. These distributions exhibit a strong enhancement over t-channel parity exchange processes in the backward direction. According to a newly developed electroproduction model, this enhancement provides significant evidence of resonance formation in the gamma* p -> omega p reaction channel

[en] Dark matter (DM) detectors with directional sensitivity have the potential of yielding an unambiguous positive observation of WIMPs as well as discriminating between galactic DM halo models. In this paper, we introduce the motivation for directional detectors, discuss the experimental techniques that make directional detection possible, and review the status of the experimental effort in this field.