Cleaning a dark matter detector

A case of ontological and normative elusiveness

Bibliographic Data

ID7474418
AuthorsJaco De Swart (0000-0002-2545-0409, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, corresponding author), A Mol (0000-0001-8675-2219, University of Amsterdam)
Year2026
Volume56
Issue1
Pages3-27
Publication date2026-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Studies of Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0306-3127 • E-ISSN: 1460-3659
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/03063127251361158
PMID40884247
OpenAlexW4413860994
LanguageEN
References cited50

Laboratory sciences crucially depend on the cleanliness of experiments. But what is clean? In this article, we show that the salience of the valuation clean emerges through its relation to a particular ontological repertoire. Our case is the XENONnT experiment in the Gran Sasso Mountains of Italy, designed to detect dark matter in the form of hypothetical WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles). In this experiment, dirt presents a significant disruption, as contaminations can mimic the signals of WIMPs, and electronegative molecules risk erasing such signals. The ideosyncratic cleanliness required makes the practice of cleaning the XENONnT detector exceedingly difficult. So far, the ontological question ‘do WIMPs exist?’ remains open, which means that the normative question ‘is the detector clean enough?’ cannot be answered either. In addition, more cleaning will make the detector sensitive to a background of unremovable neutrinos—hence irredeemably dirty. With the normative goal of a ‘clean detector’ out of reach, the ontological question ‘do WIMPs exist?’ is bound to remain open as well. Alternative experiments therefore hunt for different hypothetical dark matter candidates, with different equipment, requiring different kinds of cleanliness. At the same time, the XENONnT experiment must navigate tensions between its own cleanliness goals and rules meant to ensure the environmental cleanliness of the Gran Sasso National Park. Cleaning turns out to be dirty. This leads us to ask: Which goods deserve to be cherished, and, intertwined with that, which realities deserve to be cared for

Dark matter · Epistemology · Normative · Particle physics · Physics · Cosmology and Gravitation Theories · Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena · Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies · Philosophy

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