We report on WIMP search results of the XENON100 experiment, combining three runs summing up to 477 live days from January 2010 to January 2014. Data from the first two runs were already published. A ...blind analysis was applied to the last run recorded between April 2013 and January 2014 prior to combining the results. The ultralow electromagnetic background of the experiment, ∼5×10−3 events/(keVee×kg×day)) before electronic recoil rejection, together with the increased exposure of 48 kg×yr, improves the sensitivity. A profile likelihood analysis using an energy range of (6.6–43.3) keVnr sets a limit on the elastic, spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section for WIMP masses above 8 GeV/c2, with a minimum of 1.1×10−45 cm2 at 50 GeV/c2 and 90% confidence level. We also report updated constraints on the elastic, spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross sections obtained with the same data. We set upper limits on the WIMP-neutron (proton) cross section with a minimum of 2.0×10−40 cm2 (52×10−40 cm2) at a WIMP mass of 50 GeV/c2, at 90% confidence level.
We report on the response of liquid xenon to low energy electronic recoils below 15 keV from beta decays of tritium at drift fields of 92 V/cm, 154 V/cm and 366 V/cm using the XENON100 detector. A ...data-to-simulation fitting method based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo is used to extract the photon yields and recombination fluctuations from the experimental data. The photon yields measured at the two lower fields are in agreement with those from literature; additional measurements at a higher field of 366 V/cm are presented. The electronic and nuclear recoil discrimination as well as its dependence on the drift field and photon detection efficiency are investigated at these low energies. The results provide new measurements in the energy region of interest for dark matter searches using liquid xenon.
We describe the purification of xenon from traces of the radioactive noble gas radon using a cryogenic distillation column. The distillation column was integrated into the gas purification loop of ...the XENON100 detector for online radon removal. This enabled us to significantly reduce the constant Formula omittedRn background originating from radon emanation. After inserting an auxiliary Formula omittedRn emanation source in the gas loop, we determined a radon reduction factor of Formula omitted (95% C.L.) for the distillation column by monitoring the Formula omittedRn activity concentration inside the XENON100 detector.
We present results of searches for vector and pseudoscalar bosonic super-weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which are dark matter candidates with masses at the keV-scale, with the XENON100 ...experiment. XENON100 is a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber operated at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. A profile likelihood analysis of data with an exposure of 224.6 live days ×34 kg showed no evidence for a signal above the expected background. We thus obtain new and stringent upper limits in the (8–125) keV/c2 mass range, excluding couplings to electrons with coupling constants of gae>3×10−13 for pseudo-scalar and α′/α>2×10−28 for vector super-WIMPs, respectively. These limits are derived under the assumption that super-WIMPs constitute all of the dark matter in our galaxy.
We present the first constraints on the spin-dependent, inelastic scattering cross section of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) on nucleons from XENON100 data with an exposure of 7.64×103 ...kg·days. XENON100 is a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber with 62 kg of active mass, operated at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy and designed to search for nuclear recoils from WIMP-nucleus interactions. Here we explore inelastic scattering, where a transition to a low-lying excited nuclear state of Xe129 is induced. The experimental signature is a nuclear recoil observed together with the prompt deexcitation photon. We see no evidence for such inelastic WIMP-Xe129 interactions. A profile likelihood analysis allows us to set a 90% C.L. upper limit on the inelastic, spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross section of 3.3×10−38 cm2 at 100 GeV/c2. This is the most constraining result to date, and sets the pathway for an analysis of this interaction channel in upcoming, larger dual-phase xenon detectors.
We describe the purification of xenon from traces of the radioactive noble gas radon using a cryogenic distillation column. The distillation column was integrated into the gas purification loop of ...the XENON100 detector for online radon removal. This enabled us to significantly reduce the constant Rn-222 background originating from radon emanation. After inserting an auxiliary 222Rn emanation source in the gas loop, we determined a radon reduction factor of R > 27 (95% C.L.) for the distillation column by monitoring the Rn-222 activity concentration inside the XENON100 detector.
Two-neutrino double electron capture is a rare nuclear decay where two electrons are simultaneously captured from the atomic shell. For Xe-124 this process has not yet been observed and its detection ...would provide a new reference for nuclear matrix element calculations. We have conducted a search for two-neutrino double electron capture from the K shell of 124Xe using 7636 kg d of data from the XENON100 dark matter detector. Using a Bayesian analysis we observed no significant excess above background, leading to a lower 90% credibility limit on the half-life T-1/2 > 6.5 x 10(20) yr. We have also evaluated the sensitivity of the XENON1T experiment, which is currently being commissioned, and found a sensitivity of T-1/2 > 6.1 x 10(22) yr after an exposure of 2 t yr.
We describe the purification of xenon from traces of the radioactive noble gas radon using a cryogenic distillation column. The distillation column was integrated into the gas purification loop of ...the XENON100 detector for online radon removal. This enabled us to significantly reduce the constant
222
Rn background originating from radon emanation. After inserting an auxiliary
222
Rn emanation source in the gas loop, we determined a radon reduction factor of
R
>
27
(95% C.L.) for the distillation column by monitoring the
222
Rn activity concentration inside the XENON100 detector.