In this work, we expand on the XENON1T nuclear recoil searches to study the individual signals of dark matter interactions from operators up to dimension eight in a chiral effective field theory ...(ChEFT) and a model of inelastic dark matter (iDM). We analyze data from two science runs of the XENON1T detector totaling 1 t × yr exposure. For these analyses, we extended the region of interest from 4.9 , 40.9 keV NR to 4.9 , 54.4 keV NR to enhance our sensitivity for signals that peak at nonzero energies. We show that the data are consistent with the background-only hypothesis, with a small background overfluctuation observed peaking between 20 and 50 keV NR , resulting in a maximum local discovery significance of 1.7 σ for the Vector ⊗ Vector strange ChEFT channel for a dark matter particle of 70 GeV / c 2 and 1.8 σ for an iDM particle of 50 GeV / c 2 with a mass splitting of 100 keV / c 2 . For each model, we report 90% confidence level upper limits. We also report upper limits on three benchmark models of dark matter interaction using ChEFT where we investigate the effect of isospin-breaking interactions. We observe rate-driven cancellations in regions of the isospin-breaking couplings, leading to up to 6 orders of magnitude weaker upper limits with respect to the isospin-conserving case. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Abstract
A low-energy electronic recoil calibration of XENON1T, a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber, with an internal
$^{37}$$
37
Ar source was performed. This calibration source features a ...35-day half-life and provides two mono-energetic lines at 2.82 keV and 0.27 keV. The photon yield and electron yield at 2.82 keV are measured to be (
$$32.3\,\pm \,0.3$$
32.3
±
0.3
) photons/keV and (
$$40.6\,\pm \,0.5$$
40.6
±
0.5
) electrons/keV, respectively, in agreement with other measurements and with NEST predictions. The electron yield at 0.27 keV is also measured and it is (
$$68.0^{+6.3}_{-3.7}$$
68
.
0
-
3.7
+
6.3
) electrons/keV. The
$^{37}$$
37
Ar calibration confirms that the detector is well-understood in the energy region close to the detection threshold, with the 2.82 keV line reconstructed at (
$$2.83\,\pm \,0.02$$
2.83
±
0.02
) keV, which further validates the model used to interpret the low-energy electronic recoil excess previously reported by XENON1T. The ability to efficiently remove argon with cryogenic distillation after the calibration proves that
$^{37}$$
37
Ar can be considered as a regular calibration source for multi-tonne xenon detectors.
We present results on the search for two-neutrino double-electron capture (2 ν ECEC) of 124 Xe and neutrinoless double- β decay (0 νββ ) of 136 Xe in XENON1T. We consider captures from the K shell up ...to the N shell in the 2 ν ECEC signal model and measure a total half-life of T 2 ν ECEC 1/2 =(1.1±0.2 stat ±0.1 sys )×10 22 yr with a 0.87 kg yr isotope exposure. The statistical significance of the signal is 7.0 σ . We use XENON1T data with 36.16 kg yr of 136 Xe exposure to search for 0 νββ . We find no evidence of a signal and set a lower limit on the half-life of T 0 νββ 1/2 >1.2×10 24 yr at 90%CL. This is the best result from a dark matter detector without an enriched target to date. We also report projections on the sensitivity of XENONnT to 0 νββ . Assuming a 275 kg yr 136 Xe exposure, the expected sensitivity is T 0 νββ 1/2 >2.1×10 25 yr at 90%CL, corresponding to an effective Majorana mass range of ⟨ mββ ⟩<(0.19–0.59)eV/c 2 .
Abstract
A novel online distillation technique was developed for the XENON1T dark matter experiment to reduce intrinsic background components more volatile than xenon, such as krypton or argon, while ...the detector was operating. The method is based on a continuous purification of the gaseous volume of the detector system using the XENON1T cryogenic distillation column. A krypton-in-xenon concentration of (360 ± 60) ppq was achieved. It is the lowest concentration measured in the fiducial volume of an operating dark matter detector to date. A model was developed and fitted to the data to describe the krypton evolution in the liquid and gas volumes of the detector system for several operation modes over the time span of 550 days, including the commissioning and science runs of XENON1T. The online distillation was also successfully applied to remove 37Ar after its injection for a low-energy calibration in XENON1T. This makes the usage of 37Ar as a regular calibration source possible in the future. The online distillation can be applied to next-generation liquid xenon time projection chamber experiments to remove krypton prior to, or during, any science run. The model developed here allows further optimization of the distillation strategy for future large-scale detectors.
The selection of low-radioactive construction materials is of the utmost importance for rare-event searches and thus critical to the XENONnT experiment. Results of an extensive radioassay program are ...reported, in which material samples have been screened with gamma-ray spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and \(^{222}\)Rn emanation measurements. Furthermore, the cleanliness procedures applied to remove or mitigate surface contamination of detector materials are described. Screening results, used as inputs for a XENONnT Monte Carlo simulation, predict a reduction of materials background (\(\sim\)17%) with respect to its predecessor XENON1T. Through radon emanation measurements, the expected \(^{222}\)Rn activity concentration in XENONnT is determined to be 4.2\(\,(^{+0.5}_{-0.7})\,\mu\)Bq/kg, a factor three lower with respect to XENON1T. This radon concentration will be further suppressed by means of the novel radon distillation system.
In this work, we expand on the XENON1T nuclear recoil searches to study the individual signals of dark matter interactions from operators up to dimension-eight in a Chiral Effective Field Theory ...(ChEFT) and a model of inelastic dark matter (iDM). We analyze data from two science runs of the XENON1T detector totaling 1\,tonne\(\times\)year exposure. For these analyses, we extended the region of interest from 4.9, 40.9\(\,\)keV\(_{\text{NR}}\) to 4.9, 54.4\(\,\)keV\(_{\text{NR}}\) to enhance our sensitivity for signals that peak at nonzero energies. We show that the data is consistent with the background-only hypothesis, with a small background over-fluctuation observed peaking between 20 and 50\(\,\)keV\(_{\text{NR}}\), resulting in a maximum local discovery significance of 1.7\,\(\sigma\) for the Vector\(\otimes\)Vector\(_{\text{strange}}\) (\(VV_s\)) ChEFT channel for a dark matter particle of 70\(\,\)GeV/c\(^2\), and \(1.8\,\sigma\) for an iDM particle of 50\(\,\)GeV/c\(^2\) with a mass splitting of 100\(\,\)keV/c\(^2\). For each model, we report 90\,\% confidence level (CL) upper limits. We also report upper limits on three benchmark models of dark matter interaction using ChEFT where we investigate the effect of isospin-breaking interactions. We observe rate-driven cancellations in regions of the isospin-breaking couplings, leading to up to 6 orders of magnitude weaker upper limits with respect to the isospin-conserving case.
The XENON collaboration has published stringent limits on specific dark matter -nucleon recoil spectra from dark matter recoiling on the liquid xenon detector target. In this paper, we present an ...approximate likelihood for the XENON1T 1 tonne-year nuclear recoil search applicable to any nuclear recoil spectrum. Alongside this paper, we publish data and code to compute upper limits using the method we present. The approximate likelihood is constructed in bins of reconstructed energy, profiled along the signal expectation in each bin. This approach can be used to compute an approximate likelihood and therefore most statistical results for any nuclear recoil spectrum. Computing approximate results with this method is approximately three orders of magnitude faster than the likelihood used in the original publications of XENON1T, where limits were set for specific families of recoil spectra. Using this same method, we include toy Monte Carlo simulation-derived binwise likelihoods for the upcoming XENONnT experiment that can similarly be used to assess the sensitivity to arbitrary nuclear recoil signatures in its eventual 20 tonne-year exposure.
