Study of muon-induced background in MMC detector arrays for the ECHo experiment

For above ground particle physics experiments, cosmic muons are common source of background, not only for direct detector hits, but also for secondary radiation created in neighboring materials. The ECHo experiment has been designed for the determination of the effective electron neutrino mass by the analysis of the endpoint region of the $$^{163}\text {Ho}$$ electron capture spectrum. The fraction of events occurring in the region of interest of 10 eV below the $$Q_{\mathrm {EC}}$$ value of about 2.8 keV is only of the order of $$10^{-9}$$. This means that the background in that region need to be studied, characterized and methods to suppress it need to be developed. We expect a major background contribution to be due to cosmic muons and radiation produced by muons traveling through material around the detectors. To determine the muon-related background in metallic magnetic calorimeters (MMCs) used in the ECHo experiment, we have performed an experiment in which a muon veto was installed around the cryostat used for the operation of the detectors. We analysed the acquired events to investigate the pulse shape of MMC events in coincidence with the muon veto and the rate of multiple coincidences among detector array pixels. With different methods used for identification of muon related events, we studied events generated by muons and secondary radiation depositing energy in the substrate close to the ECHo pixels. In addition, energy depositions of muons and secondary radiation in the detectors was studied via Monte Carlo simulation. At the present status of investigation, we conclude that muon related events will be a negligible background in the region of interest of the $$^{163}\text {Ho}$$ spectrum

The invariance of the total direct DNA strand break yield

Purpose: The invariance of the total direct strand break yield when DNA is irradiated by different types of particles and energies has been reported by previous works. This study is intended to explain the physical causes of this behavior. Methods: The geant4-dna extension of the geant4 general purpose Monte Carlo simulation toolkit has been used to determine direct strand break yields induced by protons and alpha particles impacting on a B-DNA geometrical model, including five organization levels of the human genetic material. The linear energy transfer (LET) of such particles ranges from 4.8 keV/μm (10 MeV protons) to about 235 keV/μm (2 MeV alpha particles), at 5.225 μm depth (near the center of the region of interest). Direct total, single and double strand break probabilities have been determined in a liquid water homogeneous medium with a 1.06 g/cm 3 density. The energetic spectra of single strand breaks (SSB), the number of energy deposition events, and the SSB/event ratio were determined. Results: The target-hit probability was found to be independent of both the type and the energy of the incident particle, even if this latter is a secondary electron. This probability is determined by the geometrical properties of the system. The total strand break yield and the number of energy deposition events required to reach a certain absorbed dose were found nearly independent of the type and energy of the incident ion (proton or alpha). In contrast, the double strand break (DSB) yield was found strongly dependent on the LET of the incident radiation. Conclusions: The SSB generation process is homogeneous and independent of the LET of the particles involved, at least within the proton and alpha particle energy range here studied. The target-hit probability is only determined by the ratio between the total volume occupied by targets and that of the ROI where the radiation deposits its energy. The maximum separation distance between two adjacent SSBs to produce a DSB is the parameter that breaks the homogeneity of the target-hit process, making the DSB production process strongly heterogeneous