We report the measurement of the longitudinal diffusion constant in liquid argon with the DarkSide-50 dual-phase time projection chamber. The measurement is performed at drift electric fields of 100 ...V/cm, 150 V/cm, and 200 V/cm using high statistics 39Ar decays from atmospheric argon. We derive an expression to describe the pulse shape of the electroluminescence signal (S2) in dual-phase TPCs. The derived S2 pulse shape is fit to events from the uppermost portion of the TPC in order to characterize the radial dependence of the signal. The results are provided as inputs to the measurement of the longitudinal diffusion constant DL, which we find to be (4.12 ± 0.09) cm2/s for a selection of 140 keV electron recoil events in 200 V/cm drift field and 2.8 kV/cm extraction field. To study the systematics of our measurement we examine data sets of varying event energy, field strength, and detector volume yielding a weighted average value for the diffusion constant of (4.09 ± 0.12) cm2/s. The measured longitudinal diffusion constant is observed to have an energy dependence, and within the studied energy range the result is systematically lower than other results in the literature.
Finding unequivocal evidence of dark matter interactions in a particle detector is a major goal of research in physics. Liquid argon time projection chambers offer a path to probe Weakly Interacting ...Massive Particles scattering cross sections on nuclei down to the so-called neutrino floor, in a mass range from a few GeV to hundreds of TeV. Based on the successful operation of the DarkSide-50 detector at LNGS, a new and more sensitive experiment, DarkSide-20k, has been designed and is now under construction. A thorough understanding of the DarkSide-50 detector response and, therefore, of all types of events observed in the detector, is essential for the optimal design of the new experiment. In this article, we report on a specific set of events, namely, standard two-pulse scintillation–ionization signals with a third small amplitude pulse, occurring within the 440μs data acquisition window of standard events. Some of these events are due to the photoionization of the TPC cathode. We compare our results with those published by collaborations using liquid xenon time projection chambers, which observed a similar phenomenon, and, in particular, with a recent paper by the LUX Collaboration (D.S. Akerib et al. Phys.Rev.D 102, 092004 (2020)) From the measured rate of these events, we estimate for the first time the quantum efficiency of the tetraphenyl butadiene deposited on the DarkSide-50 cathode at wavelengths of around 128 nm, in liquid argon. Also, both experiments observe events likely related to the photoionization of impurities in the liquid. The probability of photoelectron emission per unit length turns out to be an order of magnitude lower in DarkSide-50 than in LUX.
The oscillation results published by the Double Chooz Collaboration in 2011 and 2012 rely on background models substantiated by reactor-on data. In this analysis, we present a ...background-model-independent measurement of the mixing angle θ13 by including 7.53 days of reactor-off data. A global fit of the observed antineutrino rates for different reactor power conditions is performed, yielding a measurement of both θ13 and the total background rate. The results on the mixing angle are improved significantly by including the reactor-off data in the fit, as it provides a direct measurement of the total background rate. This reactor rate modulation analysis considers antineutrino candidates with neutron captures on both Gd and H, whose combination yields sin2(2θ13)=0.102±0.028(stat.)±0.033(syst.). The results presented in this study are fully consistent with the ones already published by Double Chooz, achieving a competitive precision. They provide, for the first time, a determination of θ13 that does not depend on a background model.
A
bstract
A
θ
13
oscillation analysis based on the observed antineutrino rates at the Double Chooz far and near detectors for different reactor power conditions is presented. This approach provides a ...so far unique simultaneous determination of
θ
13
and the total background rates without relying on any assumptions on the specific background contributions. The analysis comprises 865 days of data collected in both detectors with at least one reactor in operation. The oscillation results are enhanced by the use of 24.06 days (12.74 days) of reactor-off data in the far (near) detector. The analysis considers the
ν
¯
e
interactions up to a visible energy of 8.5 MeV, using the events at higher energies to build a cosmogenic background model considering fast-neutrons interactions and
9
Li decays. The background-model-independent determination of the mixing angle yields sin
2
(2
θ
13
) = 0
.
094 ± 0
.
017, being the best-fit total background rates fully consistent with the cosmogenic background model. A second oscillation analysis is also performed constraining the total background rates to the cosmogenic background estimates. While the central value is not significantly modified due to the consistency between the reactor-off data and the background estimates, the addition of the background model reduces the uncertainty on
θ
13
to 0.015. Along with the oscillation results, the normalization of the anti-neutrino rate is measured with a precision of 0.86%, reducing the 1.43% uncertainty associated to the expectation.
The exploration of GZK neutrinos through their interactions with matter via produced radio signals requires highly homogeneous material with small attenuation for radio frequencies. Rock salt in some ...salt dome formations provide dielectric material with great potential to host a large scale (100 km3) water-equivalent ultra-high energy neutrino detector The Hawaii Askaryan in Salt Radio Array (HASRA) detector was built as a testbed for exploration of coherent radio Cherenkov emission in salt from interaction of cosmic ray induced cascades. We report results of 1 year of measurements of Askaryan effect with HASRA detector. Peformance of the detector its sensitivity and analysis of a newest data set will be presented.
Abstract
Aria is a plant hosting a
$${350}\,\hbox {m}$$
350
m
cryogenic isotopic distillation column, the tallest ever built, which is being installed in a mine shaft at Carbosulcis S.p.A., ...Nuraxi-Figus (SU), Italy. Aria is one of the pillars of the argon dark-matter search experimental program, lead by the Global Argon Dark Matter Collaboration. It was designed to reduce the isotopic abundance of
$${^{39}\hbox {Ar}}$$
39
Ar
in argon extracted from underground sources, called Underground Argon (UAr), which is used for dark-matter searches. Indeed,
$${^{39}\hbox {Ar}}$$
39
Ar
is a
$$\beta $$
β
-emitter of cosmogenic origin, whose activity poses background and pile-up concerns in the detectors. In this paper, we discuss the requirements, design, construction, tests, and projected performance of the plant for the isotopic cryogenic distillation of argon. We also present the successful results of the isotopic cryogenic distillation of nitrogen with a prototype plant.
A
bstract
The yields and production rates of the radioisotopes
9
Li and
8
He created by cosmic muon spallation on
12
C, have been measured by the two detectors of the Double Chooz experiment. The ...identical detectors are located at separate sites and depths, which means that they are subject to different muon spectra. The near (far) detector has an overburden of ∼120 m.w.e. (∼300 m.w.e.) corresponding to a mean muon energy of 32.1 ± 2.0 GeV (63.7 ± 5.5 GeV). Comparing the data to a detailed simulation of the
9
Li and
8
He decays, the contribution of the
8
He radioisotope at both detectors is found to be compatible with zero. The observed
9
Li yields in the near and far detectors are 5.51 ± 0.51 and 7.90 ± 0.51, respectively, in units of 10
−8
μ
−1
g
−1
cm
2
. The shallow overburdens of the near and far detectors give a unique insight when combined with measurements by KamLAND and Borexino to give the first multi-experiment, data driven relationship between the
9
Li yield and the mean muon energy according to the power law
Y
=
Y
0
E
μ
/
1
GeV
α
¯
, giving
α
¯
=
0.72
±
0.06
and
Y
0
= (0.43 ± 0.11) × 10
−8
μ
−1
g
−1
cm
2
. This relationship gives future liquid scintillator based experiments the ability to predict their cosmogenic
9
Li background rates.
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