 Liquid xenon is being used in calorimeters for measurements of gamma rays as well as a medium for detecting hypothetical weakly interacting massive particles , or WIMPs . When a WIMP collides with a xenon nucleus , it is predicted to impart enough energy to cause ionization and scintillation . Liquid xenon is useful for this type of experiment due to its high density which makes dark matter interaction more likely and permits a quiet detector due to self @-@ shielding . 
