| Title: |
Sensitivity of the NEXT experiment to Xe-124 double electron capture |
| Authors: |
Martínez Lema, Gonzalo; Martínez-Vara, M.; Sorel, Michel; Adams, C.; Álvarez Puerta, Vicente; Arazi, L.; Arnquist, I.J.; Azevedo, C.D.R.; Bailey, K.; Ballester Merelo, Francisco José; Benlloch Rodríguez, J.M.; Borges, Filipa I.G.M.; Byrnes, N.; Cárcel García, Sara; Carrión, J.V.; Cebrián, Susana; Church, E.; Conde, Carlos A.N.; Contreras, T.; Díaz López, G.; Díaz Medina, José; Diesburg, M.; Escada, J.; Esteve, Raúl; Felkai, R.; Fernandes, A.F.M.; Fernandes, L.M.P.; Ferrario, Paola; Ferreira, Antonio Luis; Freitas, Elisabete D.C.; Generowicz, J.; Ghosh, S.; Goldschmidt, Azriel; Gómez Cadenas, Juan José; González-Díaz, Diego; Guenette, R.; Gutiérrez, Rafael María; Haefner, J.; Hafidi, K.; Hauptman, John M.; Henriques, C.A.O.; Hernando Morata, J.A.; Herrero i Viñas, Pau; Herrero, Vicente; Ifergan, Y.; Johnston, S.; Jones, Benjamin J.P.; Kekic, M.; Labarga, Luis A.; Laing, Andrew; Lebrun, P.; López-March, N.; Losada, Marta; Mano, R.D.P.; Martín-Albo Simón, Justo; Martínez Pérez, Alberto; McDonald, Alison D.; Monrabal Capilla, Francesc; Monteiro, Cristina M.B.; Mora, Francisco José; Muñoz Vidal, J.; Novella, P.; Nygren, David R.; Palmeiro, B.; Para, A.; Pérez Pérez, Javier; Querol, M.; Redwine, A.B.; Renner, Joshua; Repond, J.; Riordan, S.; Ripoll Masferrer, Lluís; Rodríguez García, Y.; Rodríguez Samaniego, Javier; Rogers, L.; Romeo, B.; Romo-Luque, C.; Santos, Filomena P.; dos Santos, Joaquim M.F.; Simón Estévez, Ander; Sofka, C.; Stiegler, T.; Toledo, J.F.; Torrent Collell, Jordi; Usón, A.; Veloso, João F.C.A.; Webb, R.C.; Weiss-Babai, R.; White, James T.; Woodruff, K.; Yahlali Haddou, Nadia |
| Source: |
Journal of High Energy Physics, 2021, art.núm. 203 ; Articles publicats (D-EMCI) |
| Publisher Information: |
Springer |
| Publication Year: |
2021 |
| Collection: |
Universitat de Girona: DUGiDocs (UdG Digital Repository) |
| Subject Terms: |
Electrons; Raigs beta -- Desintegració; Beta rays -- Decay; Detectors |
| Description: |
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 (2νEC EC) has been predicted for a number of isotopes, but only observed in 78Kr, 130Ba and, recently, 124Xe. 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, 0νEC EC. Here we report on the current sensitivity of the NEXT-White detector to 124Xe 2νEC EC and on the extrapolation to NEXT-100. Using simulated data for the 2νEC EC signal and real data from NEXT-White operated with 124Xe-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 124Xe and for a 5-year run, a sensitivity to the 2νEC EC half-life of 6 × 1022 y (at 90% confidence level) or better can be reached ; The NEXT collaboration acknowledges support from the following agencies and institutions: the European Research Council (ERC) under the Advanced Grant 339787-NEXT; the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 (2014-2020) under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreements No. 674896, 690575 and 740055; the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades of Spain under grants FIS2014-53371-C04, RTI2018-095979, the Severo Ochoa Program grants SEV-2014-0398 and CEX2018-000867-S, and the María de Maeztu Program MDM-2016-0692; the GVA of Spain under grants PROMETEO/2016/120 and SEJI/2017/011; the Portuguese FCT under project PTDC/FIS-NUC/2525/2014, under project UID/FIS/04559/2013 to fund the activities of LIBPhys, and under grants PD/BD/105921/2014, ... |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| File Description: |
application/pdf |
| Language: |
English |
| ISSN: |
1126-6708; 1029-8479 |
| Relation: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1126-6708; info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/eissn/1029-8479; https://hdl.handle.net/10256/20006 |
| Availability: |
https://hdl.handle.net/10256/20006 |
| Rights: |
Attribution 4.0 International ; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ; info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.FA2D14F3 |
| Database: |
BASE |