Latest dark matter results with the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment: An unusual event in 220 days

Abstract: Understanding the composition of dark matter is one of the most compelling problems in particle physics. Although there is abundant astrophysical evidence, detecting dark matter using terrestrial experiments would allow us to directly probe the nature of a new particle. The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment, which looks for dark matter interacting with liquid xenon, has world-leading sensitivity to Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) dark matter candidates with masses from ~5 GeV to ~1 TeV.

In this talk, we will give an overview of the experiment and highlight key contributions from the team at SLAC. We will then describe LZ's flagship physics results, with a focus on the recent search with 220 live days for high energy dark matter interactions with energies up to approximately 270 keV. In this dataset, LZ has recorded a single event consistent with a 248 keV nuclear recoil interaction. We will discuss the analysis strategy, relevant backgrounds for this search, and future plans.