NEXT Collaboration(Martin-Albo, J. et al), Muñoz Vidal, J., Ferrario, P., Nebot-Guinot, M., Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Alvarez, V., et al. (2016). Sensitivity of NEXT-100 to neutrinoless double beta decay. J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 159–30pp.
Abstract: NEXT-100 is an electroluminescent high-pressure xenon gas time projection chamber that will search for the neutrinoless double beta (0v beta beta) decay of Xe-136. The detector possesses two features of great value for 0v beta beta searches: energy resolution better than 1% FWHM at the Q value of Xe-136 and track reconstruction for the discrimination of signal and background events. This combination results in excellent sensitivity, as discussed in this paper. Material-screening measurements and a detailed Monte Carlo detector simulation predict a background rate for NEXT-100 of at most 4 x 10(-4) counts keV(-1) kg(-1) yr(-1). Accordingly, the detector will reach a sensitivity to the 0v beta beta-decay half-life of 2.8 x 10(25) years (90% CL) for an exposure of 100 kg.year, or 6.0 x 10(25) years after a run of 3 effective years.
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IDS Collaboration(Lica, R. et al), & Morales, A. I. (2017). beta decay studies of n-rich Cs isotopes with the ISOLDE Decay Station. J. Phys. G, 44(5), 054002–14pp.
Abstract: Neutron-rich Ba isotopes are expected to exhibit octupolar correlations, reaching their maximum in isotopes around mass A = 146. The odd-A neutron-rich members of this isotopic chain show typical patterns related to non-axially symmetric shapes, which are however less marked compared to even-A ones, pointing to a major contribution from vibrations. In the present paper we present results from a recent study focused on Cs148-150 beta-decay performed at the ISOLDE Decay Station equipped with fast-timing detectors. A detailed analysis of the measured decay half-lives and decay scheme of Ba-149 is presented, giving a first insight in the structure of this neutron-rich nucleus.
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Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Martin-Albo, J., Sorel, M., Ferrario, P., Monrabal, F., Muñoz, J., et al. (2011). Sense and sensitivity of double beta decay experiments. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 06(6), 007–30pp.
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.
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Melcon, A. A., Cuendis, S. A., Cogollos, C., Diaz-Morcillo, A., Dobrich, B., Gallego, J. D., et al. (2020). Scalable haloscopes for axion dark matter detection in the 30 μeV range with RADES. J. High Energy Phys., 07(7), 084–28pp.
Abstract: RADES (Relic Axion Detector Exploratory Setup) is a project with the goal of directly searching for axion dark matter above the 30 μeV scale employing custom-made microwave filters in magnetic dipole fields. Currently RADES is taking data at the LHC dipole of the CAST experiment. In the long term, the RADES cavities are envisioned to take data in the BabyIAXO magnet. In this article we report on the modelling, building and characterisation of an optimised microwave-filter design with alternating irises that exploits maximal coupling to axions while being scalable in length without suffering from mode-mixing. We develop the mathematical formalism and theoretical study which justifies the performance of the chosen design. We also point towards the applicability of this formalism to optimise the MADMAX dielectric haloscopes.
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NEXT Collaboration(Simon, A. et al), Carcel, S., Carrion, J. V., Diaz, J., Felkai, R., Lopez-March, N., et al. (2021). Boosting background suppression in the NEXT experiment through Richardson-Lucy deconvolution. J. High Energy Phys., 07(7), 146–38pp.
Abstract: Next-generation neutrinoless double beta decay experiments aim for half-life sensitivities of similar to 10(27) yr, requiring suppressing backgrounds to < 1 count/tonne/yr. For this, any extra background rejection handle, beyond excellent energy resolution and the use of extremely radiopure materials, is of utmost importance. The NEXT experiment exploits differences in the spatial ionization patterns of double beta decay and single-electron events to discriminate signal from background. While the former display two Bragg peak dense ionization regions at the opposite ends of the track, the latter typically have only one such feature. Thus, comparing the energies at the track extremes provides an additional rejection tool. The unique combination of the topology-based background discrimination and excellent energy resolution (1% FWHM at the Q-value of the decay) is the distinguishing feature of NEXT. Previous studies demonstrated a topological background rejection factor of <similar to> 5 when reconstructing electron-positron pairs in the Tl-208 1.6 MeV double escape peak (with Compton events as background), recorded in the NEXT-White demonstrator at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc, with 72% signal efficiency. This was recently improved through the use of a deep convolutional neural network to yield a background rejection factor of similar to 10 with 65% signal efficiency. Here, we present a new reconstruction method, based on the Richardson-Lucy deconvolution algorithm, which allows reversing the blurring induced by electron diffusion and electroluminescence light production in the NEXT TPC. The new method yields highly refined 3D images of reconstructed events, and, as a result, significantly improves the topological background discrimination. When applied to real-data 1.6 MeV e(-)e(+) pairs, it leads to a background rejection factor of 27 at 57% signal efficiency.
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