Characterization of Backgrounds for EXO
Neutrinos are fundamental particles that are all around us in nature. While neutrinos do not make up the building blocks of matter, they are an important byproduct of the fusion process that makes the sun burn. Because neutrinos are so light in mass, they almost exclusively interact with the weak force in nature. As such, they provide a unique probe for understanding the weak force. The heaviest mass of the neutrino is still so much lighter than all the other charged quarks and leptons that it hints at the possibility that their mass is produced by a different mechanism than the Higgs boson. How can we study these fleeting objects? This is the challenge for neutrino physicists, and we continue to push the limits of the experimental techniques further and further. Neutrinoless double beta decay is a unique probe of neutrinos that will attempt to answer the question of whether the neutrino is its own anti-particle (Majorana), what it's absolute mass is and if observed, we will see violation of lepton number which will lead the way to new physics. Discovering neutrinoless double beta decay will be exciting but still left to be answered will be what the mechanism is that causes the decay. Understanding this mechanism will also give us more insight into the weak force or new forces at work in the universe. The current experiments are attempting to measure the decay half-life at the level of 1025-1026 years. In order to do this (and better in the future), it is critical to eliminate as many radioactive background processes as possible by shielding from external radioactivity and reducing the internal radioactivity of the detector. This report discusses measurements performed to study potential backgrounds due to neutrons interacting with 136Xe that could affect experiments such as EXO-200 (Enriched Xenon Observatory - 200 kg) and nEXO (next Enriched Xenon Observatory) and KamLAND-Zen.
- Research Organization:
- Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0012191
- OSTI ID:
- 1480866
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-IU-12191
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: Measurement of neutron capture on 136XeJoshua B. Albert, Sean J. Daugherty, Tessa N. Johnson, Thomasina O'Conner, Lisa J. Kaufman, Aaron Couture, John L. Ullmann, Milan KrtičkaPhys.Rev. C94 (2016) no.3, 034617DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.94.034617Neutron inelastic scattering measurements on 136Xe at En = 0.7 to 100 MeVS. J. Daugherty, J. B. Albert, L. J. Kaufman, M. Devlin, N. Fotiades, R. O. Nelson, M. KrtičkaarXiv:1807.05253Sensitivity and discovery potential of the proposed nEXO experiment to neutrinoless double beta decaynEXO CollaborationPhys. Rev. C 97, 065503 (2018)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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