99 research outputs found
Status of CUORE Experiment and latest results from CUORE-0
Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay (0νββ) is a rare nuclear transition that if it occurs at all it will be very important for the exploration of the inverted hierarchy region of the neutrino mass pattern. The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is an experiment that aims to search for such a transition in 130Te together with other rare processes. In the present paper we will describe the basic features of CUORE Experiment, the status of the experiment as well as the latest results obtained from CUORE-0 detector, a smaller scale experiment constructed to test and demonstrate the expected performances of CUOR
Theory for the Direct Detection of Solar Axions by Coherent Primakoff Conversion in Germanium Detectors
It is assumed that axions exist and are created in the Sun by Primakoff
conversion of photons in the Coulomb fields of nuclei. Detection rates are
calculated in germanium detectors due to the coherent conversion of axions to
photons in the lattice when the incident angle fulfills the Bragg condition for
a given crystalline plane. The rates are correlated with the relative positions
of the Sun and detector, yielding a characteristic recognizable sub-diurnal
temporal pattern. A major experiment is proposed based on a large detector
array.Comment: gzipped postscript file from Microsoft Word, 8 pages. Figures can be
obtained by fax from [email protected]. Submitted to Phys. Lett.
Channeling in direct dark matter detection I: channeling fraction in NaI (Tl) crystals
The channeling of the ion recoiling after a collision with a WIMP changes the
ionization signal in direct detection experiments, producing a larger signal
than otherwise expected. We give estimates of the fraction of channeled
recoiling ions in NaI (Tl) crystals using analytic models produced since the
1960's and 70's to describe channeling and blocking effects. We find that the
channeling fraction of recoiling lattice nuclei is smaller than that of ions
that are injected into the crystal and that it is strongly temperature
dependent.Comment: 37 pages, 35 figures, Accepted for publication in JCAP on 27 October
2010, Minor revisions: added an appendix, updated references, updated Fig. 9,
corrected a few typo
Pulse Shape Analysis with scintillating bolometers
Among the detectors used for rare event searches, such as neutrinoless Double
Beta Decay (0DBD) and Dark Matter experiments, bolometers are very
promising because of their favorable properties (excellent energy resolution,
high detector efficiency, a wide choice of different materials used as
absorber, ...). However, up to now, the actual interesting possibility to
identify the interacting particle, and thus to greatly reduce the background,
can be fulfilled only with a double read-out (i.e. the simultaneous and
independent read out of heat and scintillation light or heat and ionization).
This double read-out could greatly complicate the assembly of a huge,
multi-detector array, such as CUORE and EURECA. The possibility to recognize
the interacting particle through the shape of the thermal pulse is then clearly
a very interesting opportunity.
While detailed analyses of the signal time development in purely thermal
detectors have not produced so far interesting results, similar analyses on
macro-bolometers (10-500 g) built with scintillating crystals showed that
it is possible to distinguish between an electron or -ray and an
particle interaction (i.e. the main source of background for 0DBD
experiments based on the bolometric technique). Results on pulse shape analysis
of a CaMoO crystal operated as bolometer is reported as an example. An
explanation of this behavior, based on the energy partition in the heat and
scintillation channels, is also presented.Comment: Presented at the 14th International Workshop on Low Temperature
Detectors, proceedings to be published in the Journal of Low Temperature
Physic
Experimental Search for Solar Axions
A new technique has been used to search for solar axions using a single crystal germanium detector. It exploits the coherent conversion of axions into photons when their angle of incidence satisfies a Bragg condition with a crystalline plane. The analysis of approximately 1.94 kg.yr of data from the 1-kg DEMOS detector in Sierra Grande, Argentina, yields a new laboratory bound on axion-photon coupling of g_{a,\gamma\gamma}<2.7\times 10^{-9} GeV^{-1} independent of axion mass up to \sim 1 keV
New constraints on WIMPs from the Canfranc IGEX dark matter search
The IGEX Collaboration enriched 76Ge double-beta decay detectors are
currently operating in the Canfranc Underground Laboratory with an overburden
of 2450 m.w.e. A recent upgrade has made it possible to use them in a search
for WIMPs. A new exclusion plot has been derived for WIMP-nucleon
spin-independent interaction. To obtain this result, 30 days of data from one
IGEX detector, which has an energy threshold of ~4 keV, have been considered.
These data improve the exclusion limits derived from other germanium diode
experiments in the ~50 GeV DAMA region, and show that with a moderate
improvement of the background below 10 keV, the DAMA region may be tested with
an additional 1 kg-year of exposure.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Physics Letter
Search for solar Kaluza-Klein axions in theories of low-scale quantum gravity
We explore the physics potential of a terrestrial detector for observing
axionic Kaluza-Klein excitations coming from the Sun within the context of
higher-dimensional theories of low-scale quantum gravity. In these theories,
the heavier Kaluza-Klein axions are relatively short-lived and may be detected
by a coincidental triggering of their two-photon decay mode. Because of the
expected high multiplicity of the solar axionic excitations, we find
experimental sensitivity to a fundamental Peccei-Quinn axion mass up to
eV (corresponding to an effective axion-photon coupling GeV) in theories with 2 extra
dimensions and a fundamental quantum-gravity scale of order 100
TeV, and up to eV (corresponding to GeV) in theories with 3 extra dimensions and
TeV. For comparison, based on recent data obtained from lowest
level underground experiments, we derive the experimental limits: GeV and GeV in the
aforementioned theories with 2 and 3 large compact dimensions, respectively.Comment: 19 pages, extended version, as to appear in Physical Review
Neutrinoless double beta decay within Self-consistent Renormalized Quasiparticle Random Phase Approximation and inclusion of induced nucleon currents
The first, to our knowledge, calculation of neutrinoless double beta decay
(-decay) matrix elements within the self-consistent
renormalised Quasiparticle Random Phase Approximation (SRQRPA) is presented.
The contribution from the momentum-dependent induced nucleon currents to
-decay amplitude is taken into account. A detailed nuclear
structure study includes the discussion of the sensitivity of the obtained
SRQRPA results for -decay of Ge to the parameters of
nuclear Hamiltonian, two-nucleon short-range correlations and the truncation of
the model space. A comparision with the standard and renormalized QRPA is
presented. We have found a considerable reduction of the SRQRPA nuclear matrix
elements, resulting in less stringent limits for the effective neutrino mass.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
CUORE: A Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events
CUORE is a proposed tightly packed array of 1000 TeO2 bolometers, each being
a cube 5 cm on a side with a mass of 760 g. The array consists of 25 vertical
towers, arranged in a square of 5 towers by 5 towers, each containing 10 layers
of 4 crystals. The design of the detector is optimized for ultralow-background
searches: for neutrinoless double beta decay of 130Te (33.8% abundance), cold
dark matter, solar axions, and rare nuclear decays. A preliminary experiment
involving 20 crystals 3x3x6 cm3 of 340 g has been completed, and a single CUORE
tower is being constructed as a smaller scale experiment called CUORICINO. The
expected performance and sensitivity, based on Monte Carlo simulations and
extrapolations of present results, are reported.Comment: 39 pages, 12 figures, submitted to NI
Recent searches for solar axions and large extra dimensions
We analyze the data from two recent experiments designed to search for solar
axions within the context of multidimensional theories of the Kaluza-Klein
type. In these experiments, axions were supposed to be emitted from the solar
core, in M1 transitions between the first excited state and the ground state of
57Fe and 7Li. Because of the high multiplicity of axionic Kaluza-Klein states
which couple with the strength of ordinary QCD axions, we obtain much more
stringent experimental limits on the four-dimensional Peccei-Quinn breaking
scale f_{PQ}, compared with the solar QCD axion limit. Specifically, for the
57Fe experiment, f_{PQ}>1x10^6 GeV in theories with two extra dimensions and a
higher-dimensional gravitational scale M_H of order 100 TeV, and f_{PQ}>1x10^6
GeV in theories with three extra dimensions and M_H of order 1 TeV (to be
compared with the QCD axion limit, f_{PQ}>8x10^3 GeV). For the 7Li experiment,
f_{PQ}>1.4x10^5 GeV and 3.4x10^5 GeV, respectively (to be compared with the QCD
axion limit, f_{PQ}>1.9x10^2 GeV). It is an interesting feature of our results
that, in most cases, the obtained limit on f_{PQ} cannot be coupled with the
mass of the axion, which is essentially set by the (common) radius of the extra
dimensions.Comment: 4 pages, revtex 4, minor changes, version accepted by PR
- …