Many extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics explain the dominance of matter over antimatter in our Universe by neutrinos being their own antiparticles. This would imply the existence of ...neutrinoless double-β decay, which is an extremely rare lepton-number-violating radioactive decay process whose detection requires the utmost background suppression. Among the programmes that aim to detect this decay, the GERDA Collaboration is searching for neutrinoless double-β decay of
Ge by operating bare detectors, made of germanium with an enriched
Ge fraction, in liquid argon. After having completed Phase I of data taking, we have recently launched Phase II. Here we report that in GERDA Phase II we have achieved a background level of approximately 10
counts keV
kg
yr
. This implies that the experiment is background-free, even when increasing the exposure up to design level. This is achieved by use of an active veto system, superior germanium detector energy resolution and improved background recognition of our new detectors. No signal of neutrinoless double-β decay was found when Phase I and Phase II data were combined, and we deduce a lower-limit half-life of 5.3 × 10
years at the 90 per cent confidence level. Our half-life sensitivity of 4.0 × 10
years is competitive with the best experiments that use a substantially larger isotope mass. The potential of an essentially background-free search for neutrinoless double-β decay will facilitate a larger germanium experiment with sensitivity levels that will bring us closer to clarifying whether neutrinos are their own antiparticles.
ANTARES: The first undersea neutrino telescope Ageron, M.; Anghinolfi, M.; Ardid, M. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
11/2011, Letnik:
656, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope was completed in May 2008 and is the first operational Neutrino Telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The main purpose of the detector is to perform neutrino astronomy ...and the apparatus also offers facilities for marine and Earth sciences. This paper describes the design, the construction and the installation of the telescope in the deep sea, offshore from Toulon in France. An illustration of the detector performance is given.
In this paper, a time-integrated search for point sources of cosmic neutrinos is presented using the data collected from 2007 to 2010 by the ANTARES neutrino telescope. No statistically significant ...signal has been found and upper limits on the neutrino flux have been obtained. Assuming an E super(-2) sub(v) spectrum, these flux limits are at 1-10x10 super(-8) GeV cm super(-2) s super(-1) for declinations ranging from -90degrees to 40degrees. Limits for specific models of RX J1713.7-3946 and Vela X, which include information on the source morphology and spectrum, are also given.
A pulse-shape discrimination method based on artificial neural networks was applied to pulses simulated for different background, signal and signal-like interactions inside a germanium detector. The ...simulated pulses were used to investigate variations of efficiencies as a function of used training set. It is verified that neural networks are well-suited to identify background pulses in true-coaxial high-purity germanium detectors. The systematic uncertainty on the signal recognition efficiency derived using signal-like evaluation samples from calibration measurements is estimated to be 5 %. This uncertainty is due to differences between signal and calibration samples.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
A search for cosmic neutrino sources using six years of data collected by the ANTARES neutrino telescope has been performed. Clusters of muon neutrinos over the expected atmospheric background have ...been looked for. No clear signal has been found. The most signal-like accumulation of events is located at equatorial coordinates R.A. = -46degrees.8 and decl. = -64degrees.9 and corresponds to a 2.2sigma background fluctuation. In addition, upper limits on the flux normalization of an E super(-2) muon neutrino energy spectrum have been set for 50 pre-selected astrophysical objects. Finally, motivated by an accumulation of seven events relatively close to the Galactic Center in the recently reported neutrino sample of the IceCube telescope, a search for point sources in a broad region around this accumulation has been carried out. No indication of a neutrino signal has been found in the ANTARES data and upper limits on the flux normalization of an E super(-2) energy spectrum of neutrinos from point sources in that region have been set. The 90% confidence level upper limits on the muon neutrino flux normalization vary between 3.5 and 5.1 X 10 super(-8) GeV cm super(-2) s super(-1), depending on the exact location of the source.
A pulse-shape discrimination method based on artificial neural networks was applied to pulses simulated for different background, signal and signal-like interactions inside a germanium detector. The ...simulated pulses were used to investigate variations of efficiencies as a function of used training set. It is verified that neural networks are well-suited to identify background pulses in true-coaxial high-purity germanium detectors. The systematic uncertainty on the signal recognition efficiency derived using signal-like evaluation samples from calibration measurements is estimated to be 5 %. This uncertainty is due to differences between signal and calibration samples.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The background in the 0νββ experiment Gerda Agostini, M.; Allardt, M.; Andreotti, E. ...
The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields,
04/2014, Letnik:
74, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The GERmanium Detector Array (
Gerda
) experiment at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory (LNGS) of INFN is searching for neutrinoless double beta (
0
ν
β
β
) decay of
76
Ge. The signature of the ...signal is a monoenergetic peak at 2039 keV, the
Q
β
β
value of the decay. To avoid bias in the signal search, the present analysis does not consider all those events, that fall in a 40 keV wide region centered around
Q
β
β
. The main parameters needed for the
0
ν
β
β
analysis are described. A background model was developed to describe the observed energy spectrum. The model contains several contributions, that are expected on the basis of material screening or that are established by the observation of characteristic structures in the energy spectrum. The model predicts a flat energy spectrum for the blinding window around
Q
β
β
with a background index ranging from 17.6 to 23.8
×
10
-
3
cts/(keV kg yr). A part of the data not considered before has been used to test if the predictions of the background model are consistent. The observed number of events in this energy region is consistent with the background model. The background at
Q
β
β
is dominated by close sources, mainly due to
42
K,
214
Bi,
228
Th,
60
Co and
α
emitting isotopes from the
226
Ra decay chain. The individual fractions depend on the assumed locations of the contaminants. It is shown, that after removal of the known
γ
peaks, the energy spectrum can be fitted in an energy range of 200 keV around
Q
β
β
with a constant background. This gives a background index consistent with the full model and uncertainties of the same size.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The GERmanium Detector Array (Gerda) experiment at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory (LNGS) of INFN is searching for neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay of 76 Ge. The signature of the signal is ...a monoenergetic peak at 2039 keV, the Q ββ value of the decay. To avoid bias in the signal search, the present analysis does not consider all those events, that fall in a 40 keV wide region centered around Q ββ. The main parameters needed for the 0νββ analysis are described. A background model was developed to describe the observed energy spectrum. The model contains several contributions, that are expected on the basis of material screening or that are established by the observation of characteristic structures in the energy spectrum. The model predicts a flat energy spectrum for the blinding window around Qββ with a background index ranging from 17.6 to 23.8 × 10 -3 cts/(keV kg yr). A part of the data not considered before has been used to test if the predictions of the background model are consistent. The observed number of events in this energy region is consistent with the background model. The background at Q ββ is dominated by close sources, mainly due to 42 K, 214 Bi, 228 </sup Th, 60 Co and α emitting isotopes from the 226 Ra decay chain. The individual fractions depend on the assumed locations of the contaminants. It is shown, that after removal of the known γ peaks, the energy spectrum can be fitted in an energy range of 200 keV around Q ββ with a constant background. This gives a background index consistent with the full model and uncertainties of the same size.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
PDF
