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BABAR Collaboration(del Amo Sanchez, P. et al), Lopez-March, N., Martinez-Vidal, F., Milanes, D. A., & Oyanguren, A. (2011). Studies of tau(-) -> eta K- nu(tau) and tau(-) -> eta pi(-) nu(tau) at BABAR and a search for a second-class current. Phys. Rev. D, 83(3), 032002–10pp.
Abstract: We report on analyses of tau lepton decays tau(-) -> eta K- nu(tau) and tau(-) -> eta pi(-) nu(tau), with eta -> pi(+) pi(-) pi(0), using 470 fb(-1) of data from the BABAR experiment at PEP-II, collected at center-of-mass energies at and near the Y(4S) resonance. We measure the branching fraction for the tau(-) -> eta K- nu(tau) decay mode, B(tau(-) -> eta K- nu(tau)) = (1.42 +/- 0.11(stat) +/- 0.07(syst)) x 10(-4), and report a 95% confidence level upper limit for the second-class current process tau(-) -> eta pi(-) nu(tau), B(tau(-) -> eta pi(-) nu(tau)) < 9.9 x 10(-5).
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BABAR Collaboration(Aubert, B. et al), Azzolini, V., Lopez-March, N., Martinez-Vidal, F., Milanes, D. A., & Oyanguren, A. (2010). Searches for Lepton Flavor Violation in the Decays tau(+/-) -> e(+/-)gamma and tau(+/-) -> mu(+/-)gamma. Phys. Rev. Lett., 104(2), 021802–7pp.
Abstract: Searches for lepton-flavor-violating decays of a tau lepton to a lighter mass lepton and a photon have been performed with the entire data set of (963 +/- 7) x 10(6) tau decays collected by the BABAR detector near the Y(4S), Y(3S) and Y(2S) resonances. The searches yield no evidence of signals and we set upper limits on the branching fractions of B(tau(+/-) -> e(+/-)gamma) < 3.3 X 10(-8) and B(tau(+/-) -> mu(+/-)gamma) < 4.4 X 10(-8) at 90% confidence level.
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BABAR Collaboration(del Amo Sanchez, P. et al), Lopez-March, N., Martinez-Vidal, F., & Oyanguren, A. (2011). Search for Production of Invisible Final States in Single-Photon Decays of Gamma(1S). Phys. Rev. Lett., 107(2), 021804–7pp.
Abstract: We search for single-photon decays of the Gamma(1S) resonance, Gamma -> gamma + invisible, where the invisible state is either a particle of definite mass, such as a light Higgs boson A(0), or a pair of dark matter particles, chi(chi) over bar. Both A(0) and chi are assumed to have zero spin. We tag Gamma(1S) decays with a dipion transition Gamma(1S) -> pi(+)pi(-)Y(1S) and look for events with a single energetic photon and significant missing energy. We find no evidence for such processes in the mass range m(A0) <= 9.2 GeV and m(chi) <= 4.5 GeV in the sample of 98 x 10(6) Gamma(2S) decays collected with the BABAR detector and set stringent limits on new physics models that contain light dark matter states.
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NEXT Collaboration(Martinez-Lema, G. et al), Benlloch-Rodriguez, J. M., Carcel, S., Carrion, J. V., Diaz, J., Felkai, R., et al. (2021). Sensitivity of the NEXT experiment to Xe-124 double electron capture. J. High Energy Phys., 02(2), 203–25pp.
Abstract: Double electron capture by proton-rich nuclei is a second-order nuclear process analogous to double beta decay. Despite their similarities, the decay signature is quite different, potentially providing a new channel to measure the hypothesized neutrinoless mode of these decays. The Standard-Model-allowed two-neutrino double electron capture (2 nu EC EC) has been predicted for a number of isotopes, but only observed in Kr-78, Ba-130 and, recently, Xe-124. The sensitivity to this decay establishes a benchmark for the ultimate experimental goal, namely the potential to discover also the lepton-number-violating neutrinoless version of this process, 0 nu EC EC. Here we report on the current sensitivity of the NEXT-White detector to Xe-124 2 nu EC EC and on the extrapolation to NEXT-100. Using simulated data for the 2 nu EC EC signal and real data from NEXT-White operated with Xe-124-depleted gas as background, we define an optimal event selection that maximizes the NEXT-White sensitivity. We estimate that, for NEXT-100 operated with xenon gas isotopically enriched with 1 kg of Xe-124 and for a 5-year run, a sensitivity to the 2 nu EC EC half-life of 6 x 10(22) y (at 90% confidence level) or better can be reached.
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NEXT Collaboration(Henriques, C. A. O. et al), Benlloch-Rodriguez, J. M., Carcel, S., Carrion, J. V., Diaz, J., Felkai, R., et al. (2022). Neutral Bremsstrahlung Emission in Xenon Unveiled. Phys. Rev. X, 12(2), 021005–23pp.
Abstract: We present evidence of non-excimer-based secondary scintillation in gaseous xenon, obtained using both the NEXT-White time projection chamber (TPC) and a dedicated setup. Detailed comparison with first-principle calculations allows us to assign this scintillation mechanism to neutral bremsstrahlung (NBrS), a process that is postulated to exist in xenon that has been largely overlooked. For photon emission below 1000 nm, the NBrS yield increases from about 10(-2) photon/e(-) cm(-1) bar(-1) at pressure-reduced electric field values of 50 V cm(-1) bar(-1) to above 3 x 10(-1) photon/e(-) cm(-1) bar(-1) at 500 V cm(-1) bar(-1). Above 1.5 kV cm(-1) bar(-1), values that are typically employed for electroluminescence, it is estimated that NBrS is present with an intensity around 1 photon/e(-) cm(-1) bar(-1), which is about 2 orders of magnitude lower than conventional, excimer-based electroluminescence. Despite being fainter than its excimeric counterpart, our calculations reveal that NBrS causes luminous backgrounds that can interfere, in either gas or liquid phase, with the ability to distinguish and/or to precisely measure low primary-scintillation signals (S1). In particular, we show this to be the case in the "buffer region, where keeping the electric field below the electroluminescence threshold does not suffice to extinguish secondary scintillation. The electric field leakage in this region should be mitigated to avoid intolerable levels of NBrS emission. Furthermore, we show that this new source of light emission opens up a viable path toward obtaining S2 signals for discrimination purposes in future single-phase liquid TPCs for neutrino and dark matter physics, with estimated yields up to 20-50 photons/e(-) cm(-1).
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