Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Stefan Schönert

Courses and Dates

Offered Bachelor’s or Master’s Theses Topics

CRESST: freezing cold, deep underground, but illuminating the dark

The CRESST (Cryogenic Rare-Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers) experiment operated at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory employs highly sensitive cryogenic detectors to the search for signals of the elusive dark matter particles, a main ingredient of the Universe whose nature is still unknown. 

The energy thresholds reached in CRESST-III are the lowest in the field, making CRESST the most sensitive experiment to light dark matter. Optimisation of the tungsten thin-film thermometers and of the techniques for data analysis promise still improvement in energy threshold, which could significantly boost the physics reach of the experiment.

Scientific topics

 

A student can contribute to:

- design, production and prototyping of new CRESST detectors in Munich 

- development of high purity crystals 

- development of new software tools for data analysis

- dark matter data analysis

 

and, if interested, can participate in the operation of the main experiment at Gran Sasso. 

 

Thesis can be carried out at the Chair for astroparticle physics of the Physics Department and/or at the Max-Planck-Institute for Physics (MPP). Supervision at the Physics Deptartment by Prof. Schönert / Dr. Strauss and at the MPP by Prof. Schönert /  Dr. Federica Petricca. Please contact schoenert@ph.tum.de, raimund.strauss@ph.tum.de and petricca@mpp.mpg.de for further information. 

suitable as

• Bachelor’s Thesis Physics
• Master’s Thesis Condensed Matter Physics
• Master’s Thesis Nuclear, Particle, and Astrophysics
• Master’s Thesis Applied and Engineering Physics

Supervisor: Stefan Schönert

LEGEND: Are neutrinos their own anti-particles?

Neutrinos were discovered in 1956, but only at the turn of the millennium was it experimentally proven that the three known neutrino types can convert into one another. These flavor oscillations are possible only if neutrinos have nonzero mass, which is currently the only established contradiction to the standard model (SM) of particle physics. From tritium beta  decay experiments and cosmological observations, we know that their masses are very small—less than 10^-5  of the electron mass. Neutrinos are the only fundamental spin-1/2 particles (fermions) without electric charge. As a consequence, they might be Majorana fermions, particles identical to their antiparticles. This is a key ingredient of some explanations for why matter is so much more abundant than antimatter in today’s Universe and why neutrinos are so much lighter than the other elementary particles. Majorana neutrinos would lead to nuclear decays that violate lepton number conservation and are therefore forbidden in the Standard Model of particle physics. The so-called neutrinoless double-b (0nbb) decay simultaneously transforms two neutrons inside a nucleus into two protons with the emission of two electrons. The GERDA experiment and future LEGEND-200 experiment are located in the Italian Gran Sasso underground laboratory and are leading experiments in the world-wide competition. 

 

We offer the opportunity to carry out exciting experimental BSc and MSc theses with a focus on liquid argon detector developments, germanium detector developments, data analysis and/or Monte Carlo simulations. You would be fully integrated into the research team and work closely together with our international partners. 

suitable as

• Bachelor’s Thesis Physics
• Master’s Thesis Condensed Matter Physics
• Master’s Thesis Nuclear, Particle, and Astrophysics
• Master’s Thesis Applied and Engineering Physics

Supervisor: Stefan Schönert

LEGEND: Deciphering the signal structure of novel germanium detectors

suitable as

• Bachelor’s Thesis Physics
• Master’s Thesis Condensed Matter Physics
• Master’s Thesis Nuclear, Particle, and Astrophysics

Supervisor: Stefan Schönert