Abstract: The search for neutrinoless double beta decay is a very active field in which the number of proposals for next-generation experiments has proliferated. In this paper we attempt to address both the sense and the sensitivity of such proposals. Sensitivity comes first, by means of proposing a simple and unambiguous statistical recipe to derive the sensitivity to a putative Majorana neutrino mass, m(beta beta). In order to make sense of how the different experimental approaches compare, we apply this recipe to a selection of proposals, comparing the resulting sensitivities. We also propose a “physics-motivated range” (PMR) of the nuclear matrix elements as a unifying criterium between the different nuclear models. The expected performance of the proposals is parametrized in terms of only four numbers: energy resolution, background rate (per unit time, isotope mass and energy), detection efficiency, and beta beta isotope mass. For each proposal, both a reference and an optimistic scenario for the experimental performance are studied. In the reference scenario we find that all the proposals will be able to partially explore the degenerate spectrum, without fully covering it, although four of them (KamLAND-Zen, CUORE, NEXT and EXO) will approach the 50 meV boundary. In the optimistic scenario, we find that CUORE and the xenon-based proposals (KamLAND-Zen, EXO and NEXT) will explore a significant fraction of the inverse hierarchy, with NEXT covering it almost fully. For the long term future, we argue that Xe-136-based experiments may provide the best case for a 1-ton scale experiment, given the potentially very low backgrounds achievable and the expected scalability to large isotope masses.

Abstract: The South Pole Telescope (SPT) has probed an expanded angular range of the CMB temperature power spectrum. Their recent analysis of the latest cosmological data prefers nonzero neutrino masses, with Sigma m(nu) = (0.32 +/- 0.11) eV. This result, if con firmed by the upcoming Planck data, has deep implications on the discovery of the nature of neutrinos. In particular, the values of the effective neutrino mass m(beta beta) involved in neutrinoless double beta decay (beta beta 0 nu) are severely constrained for both the direct and inverse hierarchy, making a discovery much more likely. In this paper, we focus in xenon-based beta beta 0 nu experiments, on the double grounds of their good performance and the suitability of the technology to large-mass scaling. We show that the current generation, with effective masses in the range of 100 kg and conceivable exposures in the range of 500 kg.year, could already have a sizeable opportunity to observe beta beta 0 nu events, and their combined discovery potential is quite large. The next generation, with an exposure in the range of 10 ton.year, would have a much more enhanced sensitivity, in particular due to the very low specific background that all the xenon technologies (liquid xenon, high-pressure xenon and xenon dissolved in liquid scintillator) can achieve. In addition, a high-pressure xenon gas TPC also features superb energy resolution. We show that such detector can fully explore the range of allowed effective Majorana masses, thus making a discovery very likely.

Abstract: The unfortunate case where the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) fails to discover physics Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) is sometimes referred to as the “Nightmare scenario” of particle physics. We study the consequences of this hypothetical scenario for Dark Matter (DM), in the framework of the constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (cMSSM). We evaluate the surviving regions of the cMSSM parameter space after null searches at the LHC, using several different LHC configurations, and study the consequences for DM searches with ton-scale direct detectors and the IceCube neutrino telescope. We demonstrate that ton-scale direct detection experiments will be able to conclusively probe the cMSSM parameter space that would survive null searches at the LHC with 100 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity at 14TeV. We also demonstrate that IceCube (80 strings plus DeepCore) will be able to probe as much as similar or equal to 17% of the currently favoured parameter space after 5 years of observation.

Abstract: The XENON1T experiment is currently in the commissioning phase at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. In this article we study the experiment's expected sensitivity to the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon interaction cross section, based on Monte Carlo predictions of the electronic and nuclear recoil backgrounds. The total electronic recoil background in 1 tonne fiducial volume and (1, 12) keV electronic recoil equivalent energy region, before applying any selection to discriminate between electronic and nuclear recoils, is (1.80+/-0.15) . 10(-4) (kg.day.keV)(-1), mainly due to the decay of Rn-222 daughters inside the xenon target. The nuclear recoil background in the corresponding nuclear recoil equivalent energy region (4, 50) keV, is composed of (0.6 +/- 0.1) (t.y)(-1) from radiogenic neutrons, (1.8+/-0.3) . 10(-2) (t.y)(-1) from coherent scattering of neutrinos, and less than 0.01 (t.y)(-1) from muon-induced neutrons. The sensitivity of XENON1T is calculated with the Pro file Likelihood Ratio method, after converting the deposited energy of electronic and nuclear recoils into the scintillation and ionization signals seen in the detector. We take into account the systematic uncertainties on the photon and electron emission model, and on the estimation of the backgrounds, treated as nuisance parameters. The main contribution comes from the relative scintillation efficiency L-eff, which affects both the signal from WIMPs and the nuclear recoil backgrounds. After a 2 y measurement in 1 tonne fiducial volume, the sensitivity reaches a minimum cross section of 1.6 . 10(-47) cm(2) at m(chi) = 50 GeV/c(2).

Abstract: The μnu SSM solves the μproblem of supersymmetric models and reproduces neutrino data, simply using couplings with right-handed neutrinos nu's. Given that these couplings break explicitly R parity, the gravitino is a natural candidate for decaying dark matter in the μnu SSM. In this work we carry out a complete analysis of the detection of μnu SSM gravitino dark matter through gamma-ray observations. In addition to the two-body decay producing a sharp line, we include in the analysis the three-body decays producing a smooth spectral signature. We perform first a deep exploration of the low-energy parameter space of the μnu SSM taking into account that neutrino data must be reproduced. Then, we compare the gamma-ray fluxes predicted by the model with Fermi-LAT observations. In particular, with the 95% CL upper limits on the total diffuse extragalactic gamma-ray background using 50 months of data, together with the upper limits on line emission from an updated analysis using 69.9 months of data. For standard values of bino and wino masses, gravitinos with masses larger than about 4 GeV, or lifetimes smaller than about 10(28) s, produce too large fluxes and are excluded as dark matter candidates. However, when limiting scenarios with large and close values of the gaugino masses are considered, the constraints turn out to be less stringent, excluding masses larger than 17 GeV and lifetimes smaller than 4 x 10(25) s.