PT Journal
AU Renner, J
   Cervera-Villanueva, A
   Hernando, JA
   Izmaylov, A
   Monrabal, F
   Muñoz, J
   Nygren, D
   Gomez-Cadenas, JJ
TI Improved background rejection in neutrinoless double beta decay experiments using a magnetic field in a high pressure xenon TPC
SO Journal of Instrumentation
JI J. Instrum.
PY 2015
BP P12020 - 19pp
VL 10
DI 10.1088/1748-0221/10/12/P12020
LA English
DE Pattern recognition; cluster finding; calibration and fitting methods; Double-beta decay detectors; Time projection chambers; Particle tracking detectors (Gaseous detectors)
AB We demonstrate that the application of an external magnetic field could lead to an improved background rejection in neutrinoless double-beta (0 nu beta beta) decay experiments using a high-pressure xenon (HPXe) TPC. HPXe chambers are capable of imaging electron tracks, a feature that enhances the separation between signal events (the two electrons emitted in the 0 nu beta beta decay of Xe-136) and background events, arising chiefly from single electrons of kinetic energy compatible with the end-point of the 0 nu beta beta decay (Q(beta beta)). Applying an external magnetic field of sufficiently high intensity (in the range of 0.5-1 Tesla for operating pressures in the range of 5-15 atmospheres) causes the electrons to produce helical tracks. Assuming the tracks can be properly reconstructed, the sign of the curvature can be determined at several points along these tracks, and such information can be used to separate signal (0 nu beta beta) events containing two electrons producing a track with two different directions of curvature from background (single-electron) events producing a track that should spiral in a single direction. Due to electron multiple scattering, this strategy is not perfectly efficient on an event-by-event basis, but a statistical estimator can be constructed which can be used to reject background events by one order of magnitude at a moderate cost (about 30%) in signal efficiency. Combining this estimator with the excellent energy resolution and topological signature identification characteristic of the HPXe TPC, it is possible to reach a background rate of less than one count per ton-year of exposure. Such a low background rate is an essential feature of the next generation of 0 nu beta beta experiments, aiming to fully explore the inverse hierarchy of neutrino masses.
ER