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NEXT Collaboration(Cebrian, S. et al), Perez, J., Alvarez, V., Benlloch-Rodriguez, J., Botas, A., Carcel, S., et al. (2017). Radiopurity assessment of the energy readout for the NEXT double beta decay experiment. J. Instrum., 12, T08003–20pp.
Abstract: The “Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon Time-Projection Chamber” (NEXT) experiment intends to investigate the neutrinoless double beta decay of Xe-136, and therefore requires a severe suppression of potential backgrounds. An extensive material screening and selection process was undertaken to quantify the radioactivity of the materials used in the experiment. Separate energy and tracking readout planes using different sensors allow us to combine the measurement of the topological signature of the event for background discrimination with the energy resolution optimization. The design of radiopure readout planes, in direct contact with the gas detector medium, was especially challenging since the required components typically have activities too large for experiments demanding ultra-low background conditions. After studying the tracking plane, here the radiopurity control of the energy plane is presented, mainly based on gamma-ray spectroscopy using ultra-low background germanium detectors at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (Spain). All the available units of the selected model of photomultiplier have been screened together with most of the components for the bases, enclosures and windows. According to these results for the activity of the relevant radioisotopes, the selected components of the energy plane would give a contribution to the overall background level in the region of interest of at most 2.4 x 10(-4) counts keV(-1) kg(-1) y(-1), satisfying the sensitivity requirements of the NEXT experiment.
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NEXT Collaboration(Simon, A. et al), Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Alvarez, V., Benlloch-Rodriguez, J. M., Botas, A., Carcel, S., et al. (2017). Application and performance of an ML-EM algorithm in NEXT. J. Instrum., 12, P08009–22pp.
Abstract: The goal of the NEXT experiment is the observation of neutrinoless double beta decay in Xe-136 using a gaseous xenon TPC with electroluminescent amplification and specialized photodetector arrays for calorimetry and tracking. The NEXT Collaboration is exploring a number of reconstruction algorithms to exploit the full potential of the detector. This paper describes one of them: the Maximum Likelihood Expectation Maximization (ML-EM) method, a generic iterative algorithm to find maximum-likelihood estimates of parameters that has been applied to solve many different types of complex inverse problems. In particular, we discuss a bi-dimensional version of the method in which the photosensor signals integrated over time are used to reconstruct a transverse projection of the event. First results show that, when applied to detector simulation data, the algorithm achieves nearly optimal energy resolution (better than 0.5% FWHM at the Q value of 136Xe) for events distributed over the full active volume of the TPC.
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NEXT Collaboration(Henriques, C. A. O. et al), Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Alvarez, V., Benlloch-Rodriguez, J., Botas, A., Carcel, S., et al. (2017). Secondary scintillation yield of xenon with sub-percent levels of CO2 additive for rare-event detection. Phys. Lett. B, 773, 663–671.
Abstract: Xe-CO2 mixtures are important alternatives to pure xenon in Time Projection Chambers (TPC) based on secondary scintillation (electroluminescence) signal amplification with applications in the important field of rare event detection such as directional dark matter, double electron capture and double beta decay detection. The addition of CO2 to pure xenon at the level of 0.05-0.1% can reduce significantly the scale of electron diffusion from 10 mm/root m to 2.5 mm/root m, with high impact on the discrimination of the events through pattern recognition of the topology of primary ionization trails. We have measured the electroluminescence (EL) yield of Xe-CO2 mixtures, with sub-percent CO2 concentrations. We demonstrate that the EL production is still high in these mixtures, 70% and 35% relative to that produced in pure xenon, for CO2 concentrations around 0.05% and 0.1%, respectively. The contribution of the statistical fluctuations in EL production to the energy resolution increases with increasing CO2 concentration, being smaller than the contribution of the Fano factor for concentrations below 0.1% CO2.
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T2K Collaboration(Abe, K. et al), Cervera-Villanueva, A., & Novella, P. (2017). Measurement of (nu)over-bar(mu) and nu(mu) charged current inclusive cross sections and their ratio with the T2K off-axis near detector. Phys. Rev. D, 96(5), 052001–15pp.
Abstract: We report a measurement of cross section sigma(nu(mu) + nucleus. -> mu(-) + X) and the first measurements of the cross section sigma((sigma) over bar (mu) + nucleus -> mu(+) + X) and their ratio R(sigma((nu) over bar)sigma(nu)) at (anti) neutrino energies below 1.5 GeV. We determine the single momentum bin cross section measurements, averaged over the T2K (nu) over bar/nu-flux, for the detector target material (mainly carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and copper) with phase space restricted laboratory frame kinematics of theta(mu) < 32 degrees and p(mu) > 500 MeV/c. The results are sigma((nu) over bar) = (0.900 +/- 0.029d (stat) +/- 0.088(syst) x 10(-39) and sigma(nu) = (2.41 +/- 0.022(stat) +/- 0.231(syst)) x 10(-39) in units of cm(2)/nucleon and R(sigma((nu) over bar)/sigma(nu) = 0.373 +/- 0.012(stat) +/- 0.015(syst).
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T2K Collaboration(Abe, K. et al), Cervera-Villanueva, A., Izmaylov, A., Novella, P., & Sorel, M. (2017). Updated T2K measurements of muon neutrino and antineutrino disappearance using 1.5 x 10(21) protons on target. Phys. Rev. D, 96(1), 011102–9pp.
Abstract: We report measurements by the T2K experiment of the parameters theta(23) and Delta m(32)(2) governing the disappearance of muon neutrinos and antineutrinos in the three-flavor neutrino oscillation model. Utilizing the ability of the experiment to run with either a mainly neutrino or a mainly antineutrino beam, the parameters are measured separately for neutrinos and antineutrinos. Using 7.482 x 10(20) POT in neutrino running mode and 7.471 x 10(20) POT in antineutrino mode, T2K obtained sin(2) (theta(23)) = 0.51(-0.07)(+0.08) and Delta (m) over bar (2)(32) = (+0.15)(-2.53) -0.13 x 10(-3) eV(2)/c(4) for neutrinos, and sin(2) ((theta) over bar (23)) = 0.42(-0.07)(+0.25) and Delta(m) over bar (2)(32) = 2.55(-0.27)(+0.33) x 10(-3) eV(2)/c(4) for antineutrinos (assuming normal mass ordering). No significant differences between the values of the parameters describing the disappearance of muon neutrinos and antineutrinos were observed.
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