Profile likelihood ratio analysis techniques for rare event signals

Abstract: The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) II uses crystals operated at milliKelvin temperature to search for dark matter. We present the details of the profile likelihood analysis of 140.2 kg-day exposure from the final data set of the CDMS II Si detectors that revealed three WIMP-candidate events. We found that this result favors a WIMP+background hypothesis over the known-background-only hypothesis at the 99.81% confidence level. This paper is dedicated to the description of the profile likelihood analysis dedicated to the CDMSII-Si data and discusses such analysis techniques in the scope of rare event searches.