1,794 research outputs found
Direct WIMP identification: Physics performance of a segmented noble-liquid target immersed in a Gd-doped water veto
We evaluate background rejection capabilities and physics performance of a
detector composed of two diverse elements: a sensitive target (filled with one
or two species of liquefied noble gasses) and an active veto (made of Gd-doped
ultra-pure water). A GEANT4 simulation shows that for a direct WIMP search,
this device can reduce the neutron background to O(1) event per year per tonne
of material. Our calculation shows that an exposure of one tonne year
will suffice to exclude spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross sections ranging
from pb to pb.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures. Version accepted for publication in JCA
Results from the First Science Run of the ZEPLIN-III Dark Matter Search Experiment
The ZEPLIN-III experiment in the Palmer Underground Laboratory at Boulby uses
a 12kg two-phase xenon time projection chamber to search for the weakly
interacting massive particles (WIMPs) that may account for the dark matter of
our Galaxy. The detector measures both scintillation and ionisation produced by
radiation interacting in the liquid to differentiate between the nuclear
recoils expected from WIMPs and the electron recoil background signals down to
~10keV nuclear recoil energy. An analysis of 847kg.days of data acquired
between February 27th 2008 and May 20th 2008 has excluded a WIMP-nucleon
elastic scattering spin-independent cross-section above 8.1x10(-8)pb at
55GeV/c2 with a 90% confidence limit. It has also demonstrated that the
two-phase xenon technique is capable of better discrimination between electron
and nuclear recoils at low-energy than previously achieved by other xenon-based
experiments.Comment: 12 pages, 17 figure
Single electron emission in two-phase xenon with application to the detection of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering
We present an experimental study of single electron emission in ZEPLIN-III, a
two-phase xenon experiment built to search for dark matter WIMPs, and discuss
applications enabled by the excellent signal-to-noise ratio achieved in
detecting this signature. Firstly, we demonstrate a practical method for
precise measurement of the free electron lifetime in liquid xenon during normal
operation of these detectors. Then, using a realistic detector response model
and backgrounds, we assess the feasibility of deploying such an instrument for
measuring coherent neutrino-nucleus elastic scattering using the ionisation
channel in the few-electron regime. We conclude that it should be possible to
measure this elusive neutrino signature above an ionisation threshold of
3 electrons both at a stopped pion source and at a nuclear reactor.
Detectable signal rates are larger in the reactor case, but the triggered
measurement and harder recoil energy spectrum afforded by the accelerator
source enable lower overall background and fiducialisation of the active
volume
Transition Radiation Spectra of Electrons from 1 to 10 GeV/c in Regular and Irregular Radiators
We present measurements of the spectral distribution of transition radiation
generated by electrons of momentum 1 to 10 GeV/c in different radiator types.
We investigate periodic foil radiators and irregular foam and fiber materials.
The transition radiation photons are detected by prototypes of the drift
chambers to be used in the Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) of the ALICE
experiment at CERN, which are filled with a Xe, CO2 (15 %) mixture. The
measurements are compared to simulations in order to enhance the quantitative
understanding of transition radiation production, in particular the momentum
dependence of the transition radiation yield.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instr. Meth. Phys. Res.
Position Reconstruction in Drift Chambers operated with Xe, CO2 (15%)
We present measurements of position and angular resolution of drift chambers
operated with a Xe,CO(15%) mixture. The results are compared to Monte Carlo
simulations and important systematic effects, in particular the dispersive
nature of the absorption of transition radiation and non-linearities, are
discussed. The measurements were carried out with prototype drift chambers of
the ALICE Transition Radiation Detector, but our findings can be generalized to
other drift chambers with similar geometry, where the electron drift is
perpendicular to the wire planes.Comment: 30 pages, 18 figure
Measurement of single electron emission in two-phase xenon
We present the first measurements of the electroluminescence response to the
emission of single electrons in a two-phase noble gas detector. Single
ionization electrons generated in liquid xenon are detected in a thin gas layer
during the 31-day background run of the ZEPLIN-II experiment, a two-phase xenon
detector for WIMP dark matter searches. Both the pressure dependence and
magnitude of the single-electron response are in agreement with previous
measurements of electroluminescence yield in xenon. We discuss different
photoionization processes as possible cause for the sample of single electrons
studied in this work. This observation may have implications for the design and
operation of future large-scale two-phase systems.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure
Measurement of event shapes in deep inelastic scattering at HERA
Inclusive event-shape variables have been measured in the current region of
the Breit frame for neutral current deep inelastic ep scattering using an
integrated luminosity of 45.0 pb^-1 collected with the ZEUS detector at HERA.
The variables studied included thrust, jet broadening and invariant jet mass.
The kinematic range covered was 10 < Q^2 < 20,480 GeV^2 and 6.10^-4 < x < 0.6,
where Q^2 is the virtuality of the exchanged boson and x is the Bjorken
variable. The Q dependence of the shape variables has been used in conjunction
with NLO perturbative calculations and the Dokshitzer-Webber non-perturbative
corrections (`power corrections') to investigate the validity of this approach.Comment: 7+25 pages, 6 figure
High-E_T dijet photoproduction at HERA
The cross section for high-E_T dijet production in photoproduction has been
measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 81.8
pb-1. The events were required to have a virtuality of the incoming photon,
Q^2, of less than 1 GeV^2 and a photon-proton centre-of-mass energy in the
range 142 < W < 293 GeV. Events were selected if at least two jets satisfied
the transverse-energy requirements of E_T(jet1) > 20 GeV and E_T(jet2) > 15 GeV
and pseudorapidity requirements of -1 < eta(jet1,2) < 3, with at least one of
the jets satisfying -1 < eta(jet) < 2.5. The measurements show sensitivity to
the parton distributions in the photon and proton and effects beyond
next-to-leading order in QCD. Hence these data can be used to constrain further
the parton densities in the proton and photon.Comment: 36 pages, 13 figures, 20 tables, including minor revisions from
referees. Accepted by Phys. Rev.
Advances in Cryogenic Avalanche Detectors
Cryogenic Avalanche Detectors (CRADs) are referred to as a new class of
noble-gas detectors operated at cryogenic temperatures with electron
avalanching performed directly in the detection medium, the latter being in
gaseous, liquid or two-phase (liquid-gas) state. Electron avalanching is
provided by Micro-Pattern Gas Detector (MPGD) multipliers, in particular GEMs
and THGEMs, operated at cryogenic temperatures in dense noble gases. The final
goal for this kind of detectors is the development of large-volume detectors of
ultimate sensitivity for rare-event experiments and medical applications, such
as coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering, direct dark matter search,
astrophysical (solar and supernova) neutrino detection experiments and Positron
Emission Tomography technique. This review is the first attempt to summarize
the results on CRAD performances obtained by different groups. A brief overview
of the available CRAD concepts is also given and the most remarkable CRAD
physics effects are discussed.Comment: 60 pages, 58 figures. Invited talk at MPGD2011 Conference, Aug 29 -
Sep 3, 2011, Kobe, Japan. Journal version + Fig. 1a adde
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