3,128 research outputs found
Field dependence of electronic recoil signals in a dual-phase liquid xenon time projection chamber
We present measurements of light and charge signals in a dual-phase time
projection chamber at electric fields varying from 10 V/cm up to 500 V/cm and
at zero field using 511 keV gamma rays from a Na source. We determine
the drift velocity, electron lifetime, diffusion constant, and light and charge
yields at 511 keV as a function of the electric field. In addition, we fit the
scintillation pulse shape to an effective exponential model, showing a decay
time of 43.5 ns at low field that decreases to 25 ns at high fields.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure
Monte Carlo Simulation Variance Reduction Techniques for Photon Transport in Liquid Xenon Detectors
Monte Carlo simulations are a crucial tool for the analysis and prediction of
various background components in liquid xenon (LXe) detectors. With improving
shielding in new experiments, the simulation of external backgrounds, such as
induced by gamma rays from detector materials, gets more computationally
expensive. We introduce and validate an accelerated Monte Carlo simulation
technique for photon transport in liquid xenon detectors. The method simulates
photon-induced interactions within a defined geometry and energy range with
high statistics while interactions outside of the region of interest are not
simulated directly but are taken into account by means of probability weights.
For a simulation of gamma induced backgrounds in an exemplary detector geometry
we achieve a three orders of magnitude acceleration compared to a standard
simulation of a current ton-scale LXe dark matter experiment
Precision measurements of the scintillation pulse shape for low-energy recoils in liquid xenon
We present measurements of the scintillation pulse shape in liquid xenon for
nuclear recoils (NR) and electronic recoils (ER) at electric fields of 0 to 0.5
kV/cm for energies 15 keV and 70 keV electron-equivalent, respectively.
The average pulse shapes are well-described by an effective model with two
exponential decay components, where both decay times are fit parameters. We
find significant broadening of the pulse for ER due to delayed luminescence
from the recombination process. In addition to the effective model, we fit a
model describing the recombination luminescence for ER at zero field and obtain
good agreement. We estimate the best performance of a combined S2/S1 and pulse
shape ER/NR discrimination and show that even with 2 ns time resolution, the
improvement over S2/S1 discrimination alone is marginal, so that pulse shape
discrimination will likely not be useful for future dual-phase liquid xenon
experiments looking for elastic dark matter recoil interactions
Complementarity of direct detection experiments in search of light Dark Matter
Dark Matter experiments searching for Weakly interacting massive particles
(WIMPs) primarily use nuclear recoils (NRs) in their attempt to detect WIMPs.
Migdal-induced electronic recoils (ERs) provide additional sensitivity to light
Dark Matter with masses. In this work, we use
Bayesian inference to find the parameter space where future detectors like
XENONnT and SuperCDMS SNOLAB will be able to detect WIMP Dark Matter through
NRs, Migdal-induced ERs or a combination thereof. We identify regions where
each detector is best at constraining the Dark Matter mass and spin independent
cross-section and infer where two or more detection configurations are
complementary to constraining these Dark Matter parameters through a combined
analysis.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure
Implications of Lorentz covariance for the guidance equation in two-slit quantum interference
It is known that Lorentz covariance fixes uniquely the current and the
associated guidance law in the trajectory interpretation of quantum mechanics
for spin particles. In the non-relativistic domain this implies a guidance law
for the electron which differs by an additional spin-dependent term from that
originally proposed by de Broglie and Bohm. In this paper we explore some of
the implications of the modified guidance law. We bring out a property of
mutual dependence in the particle coordinates that arises in product states,
and show that the quantum potential has scalar and vector components which
implies the particle is subject to a Lorentz-like force. The conditions for the
classical limit and the limit of negligible spin are given, and the empirical
sufficiency of the model is demonstrated. We then present a series of
calculations of the trajectories based on two-dimensional Gaussian wave packets
which illustrate how the additional spin-dependent term plays a significant
role in structuring both the individual trajectories and the ensemble. The
single packet corresponds to quantum inertial motion. The distinct features
encountered when the wavefunction is a product or a superposition are explored,
and the trajectories that model the two-slit experiment are given. The latter
paths exhibit several new characteristics compared with the original de
Broglie-Bohm ones, such as crossing of the axis of symmetry.Comment: 27 pages including 6 pages of figure
Light Dark Matter Search with Ionization Signals in XENON1T
We report constraints on light dark matter (DM) models using ionization signals in the XENON1T experiment. We mitigate backgrounds with strong event selections, rather than requiring a scintillation signal, leaving an effective exposure of (22 ± 3) tonne day. Above ∼0.4 keVee, we observe 30 MeV /c2, and absorption of dark photons and axionlike particles for mχ within 0.186–1 keV /c2
Search for Light Dark Matter Interactions Enhanced by the Migdal Effect or Bremsstrahlung in XENON1T
Direct dark matter detection experiments based on a liquid xenon target are leading the search for dark matter particles with masses above ~ 5 GeV /c2, but have limited sensitivity to lighter masses because of the small momentum transfer in dark matter-nucleus elastic scattering. However, there is an irreducible contribution from inelastic processes accompanying the elastic scattering, which leads to the excitation and ionization of the recoiling atom (the Migdal effect) or the emission of a bremsstrahlung photon. In this Letter, we report on a probe of low-mass dark matter with masses down to about 85 MeV /c2 by looking for electronic recoils induced by the Migdal effect and bremsstrahlung using data from the XENON1T experiment. Besides the approach of detecting both scintillation and ionization signals, we exploit an approach that uses ionization signals only, which allows for a lower detection threshold. This analysis significantly enhances the sensitivity of XENON1T to light dark matter previously beyond its reach
Solar neutrino detection sensitivity in DARWIN via electron scattering
We detail the sensitivity of the proposed liquid xenon DARWIN observatory to solar neutrinos via elastic electron scattering. We find that DARWIN will have the potential to measure the fluxes of five solar neutrino components: pp, 7Be, 13N, 15O and pep. The precision of the13N, 15O and pep components is hindered by the doublebeta decay of 136Xe and, thus, would benefit from a depleted target. A high-statistics observation of pp neutrinos would allow us to infer the values of the electroweak mixing angle,sin2 θw, and the electron-type neutrino survival probability, Pee, in the electron recoil energy region from a few keV up to 200keV for the first time, with relative precision of 5% and 4%, respectively, with 10 live years of data and a 30 tonne fiducial volume. An observation of pp and 7Be neutrinos would constrain the neutrino-inferred solar luminosity down to 0.2%. A combination of all flux measurements would distinguish between the high- (GS98) and low-metallicity (AGS09) solar models with 2.1–2.5σ significance, independent of external measurements from other experiments or a measurement of8B neutrinos through coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering in DARWIN. Finally, we demonstrate that with a depleted target DARWIN may be sensitive to the neutrino capture process of 131Xe
The detection of single electrons by means of a Micromegas-covered MediPix2 pixel CMOS readout circuit
A small drift chamber was read out by means of a MediPix2 readout chip as
direct anode. A Micromegas foil was placed 50 m above the chip, and
electron multiplication occurred in the gap. With a He/Isobutane 80/20 mixture,
gas multiplication factors up to tens of thousands were achieved, resulting in
an efficiency for detecting single electrons of better than 90% . We recorded
many frames containing 2D images with tracks from cosmic muons. Along these
tracks, electron clusters were observed, as well as delta-rays.Comment: 15 pages, 9 included postscript figures, 5 separate jpeg figures,
submitted to Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A. A complete postscript version with
high resolution figures 1, 3, 11, 12 and 14 can be found at
http://www.nikhef.nl/~i06/RandD/final/letter4.p
GridPix application to dual phase TPC
GridPix is a gas-filled detector with an aluminium mesh stretched 50 μm above the Timepix CMOS pixel chip. This defines a high electric field where gas amplification occurs. A feasibility study is ongoing at Nikhef for the application of the GridPix technology as a charge sensitive device in a dual phase noble gas Time Projection Chamber (TPC), within the framework of the DARWIN design study for next generation dark matter experiments. The smallness of the device and well defined materials allow for high radio-purity and low outgassing. The high granularity of a pixel readout and the high detection efficiency of single electrons of GridPix bring benefits especially in terms of energy resolution for small energy deposits. This feature is interesting also for the measurement of the scintillation yield and the ionisation yield of noble liquids. The accurate measurements of such quantities have a direct impact on the data interpretation of dark matter experiments. The application in dual phase argon or xenon TPCs implies several technological challenges, such as the survival of the device at cryogenic temperature as well as the operation in a pure noble gas atmosphere without discharges. We describe here the recent developments of the project
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