论文标题
$^{124} $ XE的二阶弱衰减的检测前景
Detection prospects for the second-order weak decays of $^{124}$Xe in multi-tonne xenon time projection chambers
论文作者
论文摘要
我们研究了两种和中产阶级的二阶弱衰减的检测前景,$^{124} $ xe-双电子捕获($ 0/2ν\ text {ecec} $),potitron发射的电子捕获($ 0/2ν\ $ 0/2ν\ ec text {ec} ec}β^+$)和$ 0- $ 0- $ 0/2+^$ 0/2 ninte-氙时间投影室。我们在液体氙培养基中模拟衰减,并开发一种重建算法,该算法使用这些衰变中的多粒子重合来将信号与背景分开。这用于计算预期的检测效率,这是计划实验的位置分辨率和能量阈值的函数。此外,我们考虑了可能的背景来源的详尽清单,并发现它们要么可以忽略不计,要么可以使用我们的拓扑重建标准大大降低它们。特别是,我们得出两个结论:首先,半衰期为$ t_ {1/2}^{2ν\ text {ec}β^+} =(1.7 \ pm 0.6)\ cdot 10^{23} \,\,\,\ \,\ text {yr} $在即将进行的暗物质实验(例如Xenonnt或LZ)中,它们的主要背景将来自检测器建筑材料中的伽马射线。其次,搜索$0ν\ text {ec}β^+$衰减模式可能不含背景,而新的参数空间可能在范围内。为此,我们研究了有效中微子质量的现有实验限制的三种不同情况。 $^{124} $ XE的必要500公斤年度可以通过Darwin天文台的基线设计,或通过从Nexo实验的尾矿中提取和使用$^{124} $ XE来实现。我们演示了$^{124} $ XE结果与$0νβ^-β^ - $ search in $^{136} $ XE中的组合如何有助于识别中性衰减机制。
We investigate the detection prospects for two-neutrino and neutrinoless second order weak decays of $^{124}$Xe -- double electron capture ($0/2ν\text{ECEC}$), electron capture with positron emission ($0/2ν\text{EC}β^+$) and double-positron emission ($0/2νβ^+β^+$) -- in multi-tonne xenon time projection chambers. We simulate the decays in a liquid xenon medium and develop a reconstruction algorithm which uses the multi-particle coincidence in these decays to separate signal from background. This is used to compute the expected detection efficiencies as a function of position resolution and energy threshold for planned experiments. In addition, we consider an exhaustive list of possible background sources and find that they are either negligible in rate or can be greatly reduced using our topological reconstruction criteria. In particular, we draw two conclusions: First, with a half-life of $T_{1/2}^{2ν\text{EC}β^+} = (1.7 \pm 0.6)\cdot 10^{23}\,\text{yr}$, the $2ν\text{EC}β^+$ decay of $^{124}$Xe will likely be detected in upcoming Dark Matter experiments (e.g. XENONnT or LZ), and their major background will be from gamma rays in the detector construction materials. Second, searches for the $0ν\text{EC}β^+$ decay mode are likely to be background-free, and new parameter space may be within the reach. To this end we investigate three different scenarios of existing experimental constraints on the effective neutrino mass. The necessary 500 kg-year exposure of $^{124}$Xe could be achieved by the baseline design of the DARWIN observatory, or by extracting and using the $^{124}$Xe from the tailings of the nEXO experiment. We demonstrate how a combination of $^{124}$Xe results with those from $0νβ^-β^-$ searches in $^{136}$Xe could help to identify the neutrinoless decay mechanism.