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1. Demonstration of neutrinoless double beta decay searches in gaseous xenon with NEXT

Author

The NEXT collaboration, P. Novella, M. Sorel, A. Usón, C. Adams, H. Almazán, V. Álvarez, B. Aparicio, A. I. Aranburu, L. Arazi, I. J. Arnquist, F. Auria-Luna, S. Ayet, C. D. R. Azevedo, K. Bailey, F. Ballester, M. del Barrio-Torregrosa, A. Bayo, J. M. Benlloch-Rodríguez, F. I. G. M. Borges, S. Bounasser, N. Byrnes, S. Cárcel, J. V. Carrión, S. Cebrián, E. Church, L. Cid, C. A. N. Conde, T. Contreras, F. P. Cossío, E. Dey, G. Díaz, T. Dickel, M. Elorza, J. Escada, R. Esteve, A. Fahs, R. Felkai, L. M. P. Fernandes, P. Ferrario, A. L. Ferreira, F. W. Foss, E. D. C. Freitas, Z. Freixa, J. Generowicz, A. Goldschmidt, J. J. Gómez-Cadenas, R. González, J. Grocott, R. Guenette, J. Haefner, K. Hafidi, J. Hauptman, C. A. O. Henriques, J. A. Hernando Morata, P. Herrero-Gómez, V. Herrero, C. Hervés Carrete, J. Ho, P. Ho, Y. Ifergan, B. J. P. Jones, L. Labarga, L. Larizgoitia, A. Larumbe, P. Lebrun, F. Lopez, D. Lopez Gutierrez, N. López-March, R. Madigan, R. D. P. Mano, A. P. Marques, J. Martín-Albo, G. Martínez-Lema, M. Martínez-Vara, Z. E. Meziani, R. L. Miller, K. Mistry, J. Molina-Canteras, F. Monrabal, C. M. B. Monteiro, F. J. Mora, J. Muñoz Vidal, K. Navarro, A. Nuñez, D. R. Nygren, E. Oblak, M. Odriozola-Gimeno, J. Palacio, B. Palmeiro, A. Para, I. Parmaksiz, J. Pelegrin, M. Pérez Maneiro, M. Querol, A. B. Redwine, J. Renner, I. Rivilla, J. Rodríguez, C. Rogero, L. Rogers, B. Romeo, C. Romo-Luque, F. P. Santos, J. M. F. dos Santos, A. Simón, S. R. Soleti, C. Stanford, J. M. R. Teixeira, J. F. Toledo, J. Torrent, J. F. C. A. Veloso, T. T. Vuong, J. Waiton, and J. T. White

Subjects
Dark Matter and Double Beta Decay (experiments), Rare Decay, Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity, QC770-798
Abstract

Abstract The NEXT experiment aims at the sensitive search of the neutrinoless double beta decay in 136Xe, using high-pressure gas electroluminescent time projection chambers. The NEXT-White detector is the first radiopure demonstrator of this technology, operated in the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc. Achieving an energy resolution of 1% FWHM at 2.6 MeV and further background rejection by means of the topology of the reconstructed tracks, NEXT-White has been exploited beyond its original goals in order to perform a neu- trinoless double beta decay search. The analysis considers the combination of 271.6 days of 136Xe-enriched data and 208.9 days of 136Xe-depleted data. A detailed background modeling and measurement has been developed, ensuring the time stability of the radiogenic and cosmogenic contributions across both data samples. Limits to the neutrinoless mode are obtained in two alternative analyses: a background-model-dependent approach and a novel direct background-subtraction technique, offering results with small dependence on the background model assumptions. With a fiducial mass of only 3.50 ± 0.01 kg of 136Xe-enriched xenon, 90% C.L. lower limits to the neutrinoless double beta decay are found in the T 1 / 2 0 ν $$ {T}_{1/2}^{0\nu } $$ > 5.5 × 1023 − 1.3 × 1024 yr range, depending on the method. The presented techniques stand as a proof-of-concept for the searches to be implemented with larger NEXT detectors.

Published
2023
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2. Sensitivity of a tonne-scale NEXT detector for neutrinoless double-beta decay searches

Author

The NEXT collaboration, C. Adams, V. Álvarez, L. Arazi, I. J. Arnquist, C. D. R Azevedo, K. Bailey, F. Ballester, J. M. Benlloch-Rodríguez, F. I. G. M. Borges, N. Byrnes, S. Cárcel, J. V. Carrión, S. Cebrián, E. Church, C. A. N. Conde, T. Contreras, A. A. Denisenko, G. Díaz, J. Díaz, J. Escada, R. Esteve, R. Felkai, L. M. P. Fernandes, P. Ferrario, A. L. Ferreira, F. Foss, E. D. C. Freitas, Z. Freixa, J. Generowicz, A. Goldschmidt, J. J. Gómez-Cadenas, R. González, D. González-Díaz, S. Gosh, R. Guenette, R. M. Gutiérrez, J. Haefner, K. Hafidi, J. Hauptman, C. A. O. Henriques, J. A. Hernando Morata, P. Herrero, V. Herrero, J. Ho, Y. Ifergan, B. J. P. Jones, M. Kekic, L. Labarga, A. Laing, P. Lebrun, N. López-March, M. Losada, R. D. P. Mano, J. Martín-Albo, A. Martínez, M. Martínez-Vara, G. Martínez-Lema, A. D. McDonald, Z. E. Meziani, F. Monrabal, C. M. B. Monteiro, F. J. Mora, J. Muñoz Vidal, C. Newhouse, P. Novella, D. R. Nygren, E. Oblak, B. Palmeiro, A. Para, J. Pérez, M. Querol, A. Redwine, J. Renner, L. Ripoll, I. Rivilla, Y. Rodríguez García, J. Rodríguez, C. Rogero, L. Rogers, B. Romeo, C. Romo-Luque, F. P. Santos, J. M. F. dos Santos, A. Simón, M. Sorel, C. Stanford, J. M. R. Teixeira, P. Thapa, J. F. Toledo, J. Torrent, A. Usón, J. F. C. A. Veloso, T. T. Vuong, R. Webb, R. Weiss-Babai, J. T. White, K. Woodruff, and N. Yahlali

Subjects
Dark Matter and Double Beta Decay (experiments), Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity, QC770-798
Abstract

Abstract The Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC (NEXT) searches for the neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ) decay of 136Xe using high-pressure xenon gas TPCs with electroluminescent amplification. A scaled-up version of this technology with about 1 tonne of enriched xenon could reach in less than 5 years of operation a sensitivity to the half-life of 0νββ decay better than 1027 years, improving the current limits by at least one order of magnitude. This prediction is based on a well-understood background model dominated by radiogenic sources. The detector concept presented here represents a first step on a compelling path towards sensitivity to the parameter space defined by the inverted ordering of neutrino masses, and beyond.

Published
2021
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3. Boosting background suppression in the NEXT experiment through Richardson-Lucy deconvolution

Author

The NEXT collaboration, A. Simón, Y. Ifergan, A. B. Redwine, R. Weiss-Babai, L. Arazi, C. Adams, H. Almazán, V. Álvarez, B. Aparicio, A. I. Aranburu, I. J. Arnquist, C. D. R Azevedo, K. Bailey, F. Ballester, J. M. Benlloch-Rodríguez, F. I. G. M. Borges, N. Byrnes, S. Cárcel, J. V. Carrión, S. Cebrián, E. Church, C. A. N. Conde, T. Contreras, F. P. Cossío, A. A. Denisenko, G. Díaz, J. Díaz, J. Escada, R. Esteve, R. Felkai, L. M. P. Fernandes, P. Ferrario, A. L. Ferreira, F. Foss, E. D. C. Freitas, Z. Freixa, J. Generowicz, A. Goldschmidt, J. J. Gómez-Cadenas, R. González, D. González-Díaz, S. Gosh, R. Guenette, R. M. Gutiérrez, J. Haefner, K. Hafidi, J. Hauptman, C. A. O. Henriques, J. A. Hernando Morata, P. Herrero, V. Herrero, J. Ho, B. J. P. Jones, M. Kekic, L. Labarga, A. Laing, P. Lebrun, N. López-March, M. Losada, R. D. P. Mano, J. Martín-Albo, A. Martínez, M. Martínez-Vara, G. Martínez-Lema, A. D. McDonald, Z.-E. Meziani, F. Monrabal, C. M. B. Monteiro, F. J. Mora, J. Muñoz Vidal, C. Newhouse, P. Novella, D. R. Nygren, E. Oblak, M. Odriozola-Gimeno, B. Palmeiro, A. Para, J. Pérez, M. Querol, J. Renner, L. Ripoll, I. Rivilla, Y. Rodríguez García, J. Rodríguez, C. Rogero, L. Rogers, B. Romeo, C. Romo-Luque, F. P. Santos, J. M. F. dos Santos, M. Sorel, C. Stanford, J. M. R. Teixeira, P. Thapa, J. F. Toledo, J. Torrent, A. Usón, J. F. C. A. Veloso, T. T. Vuong, R. Webb, J. T. White, K. Woodruff, and N. Yahlali

Subjects
Dark Matter and Double Beta Decay (experiments), Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity, QC770-798
Abstract

Abstract Next-generation neutrinoless double beta decay experiments aim for half-life sensitivities of ∼ 1027 yr, requiring suppressing backgrounds to < 1 count/tonne/yr. For this, any extra background rejection handle, beyond excellent energy resolution and the use of extremely radiopure materials, is of utmost importance. The NEXT experiment exploits differences in the spatial ionization patterns of double beta decay and single-electron events to discriminate signal from background. While the former display two Bragg peak dense ionization regions at the opposite ends of the track, the latter typically have only one such feature. Thus, comparing the energies at the track extremes provides an additional rejection tool. The unique combination of the topology-based background discrimination and excellent energy resolution (1% FWHM at the Q-value of the decay) is the distinguishing feature of NEXT. Previous studies demonstrated a topological background rejection factor of ∼ 5 when reconstructing electron-positron pairs in the 208Tl 1.6 MeV double escape peak (with Compton events as background), recorded in the NEXT-White demonstrator at the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc, with 72% signal efficiency. This was recently improved through the use of a deep convolutional neural network to yield a background rejection factor of ∼ 10 with 65% signal efficiency. Here, we present a new reconstruction method, based on the Richardson-Lucy deconvolution algorithm, which allows reversing the blurring induced by electron diffusion and electroluminescence light production in the NEXT TPC. The new method yields highly refined 3D images of reconstructed events, and, as a result, significantly improves the topological background discrimination. When applied to real-data 1.6 MeV e − e + pairs, it leads to a background rejection factor of 27 at 57% signal efficiency.

Published
2021
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4. Demonstration of background rejection using deep convolutional neural networks in the NEXT experiment

Author

The NEXT collaboration, M. Kekic, C. Adams, K. Woodruff, J. Renner, E. Church, M. Del Tutto, J. A. Hernando Morata, J. J. Gómez-Cadenas, V. Álvarez, L. Arazi, I. J. Arnquist, C. D. R. Azevedo, K. Bailey, F. Ballester, J. M. Benlloch-Rodríguez, F. I. G. M. Borges, N. Byrnes, S. Cárcel, J. V. Carrión, S. Cebrián, C. A. N. Conde, T. Contreras, G. Díaz, J. Díaz, M. Diesburg, J. Escada, R. Esteve, R. Felkai, A. F. M. Fernandes, L. M. P. Fernandes, P. Ferrario, A. L. Ferreira, E. D. C. Freitas, J. Generowicz, S. Ghosh, A. Goldschmidt, D. González-Díaz, R. Guenette, R. M. Gutiérrez, J. Haefner, K. Hafidi, J. Hauptman, C. A. O. Henriques, P. Herrero, V. Herrero, Y. Ifergan, B. J. P. Jones, L. Labarga, A. Laing, P. Lebrun, N. López-March, M. Losada, R. D. P. Mano, J. Martín-Albo, A. Martínez, G. Martínez-Lema, M. Martínez-Vara, A. D. McDonald, Z.-E. Meziani, F. Monrabal, C. M. B. Monteiro, F. J. Mora, J. Muñoz Vidal, P. Novella, D. R. Nygren, B. Palmeiro, A. Para, J. Pérez, M. Querol, A. B. Redwine, L. Ripoll, Y. Rodríguez García, J. Rodríguez, L. Rogers, B. Romeo, C. Romo-Luque, F. P. Santos, J. M. F. dos Santos, A. Simón, C. Sofka, M. Sorel, T. Stiegler, J. F. Toledo, J. Torrent, A. Usón, J. F. C. A. Veloso, R. Webb, R. Weiss-Babai, J. T. White, and N. Yahlali

Subjects
Dark Matter and Double Beta Decay (experiments), Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity, QC770-798
Abstract

Abstract Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are widely used state-of-the-art computer vision tools that are becoming increasingly popular in high-energy physics. In this paper, we attempt to understand the potential of CNNs for event classification in the NEXT experiment, which will search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in 136Xe. To do so, we demonstrate the usage of CNNs for the identification of electron-positron pair production events, which exhibit a topology similar to that of a neutrinoless double-beta decay event. These events were produced in the NEXT-White high-pressure xenon TPC using 2.6 MeV gamma rays from a 228Th calibration source. We train a network on Monte Carlo-simulated events and show that, by applying on-the-fly data augmentation, the network can be made robust against differences between simulation and data. The use of CNNs offers significant improvement in signal efficiency and background rejection when compared to previous non-CNN-based analyses.

Published
2021
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5. Low-diffusion Xe-He gas mixtures for rare-event detection: electroluminescence yield

Author

The NEXT collaboration, A. F. M. Fernandes, C. A. O. Henriques, R. D. P. Mano, D. González-Díaz, C. D. R Azevedo, P. A. O. C. Silva, J. J. Gómez-Cadenas, E. D. C. Freitas, L. M. P. Fernandes, C. M. B. Monteiro, C. Adams, V. Álvarez, L. Arazi, I. J. Arnquist, K. Bailey, F. Ballester, J. M. Benlloch-Rodríguez, F. I. G. M. Borges, N. Byrnes, S. Cárcel, J. V. Carrión, S. Cebrián, E. Church, C. A. N. Conde, T. Contreras, G. Díaz, J. Díaz, M. Diesburg, J. Escada, R. Esteve, R. Felkai, P. Ferrario, A. L. Ferreira, J. Generowicz, S. Ghosh, A. Goldschmidt, R. Guenette, R. M. Gutiérrez, J. Haefner, K. Hafidi, J. Hauptman, J. A. Hernando Morata, P. Herrero, V. Herrero, Y. Ifergan, S. Johnston, B. J. P. Jones, M. Kekic, L. Labarga, A. Laing, P. Lebrun, N. López-March, M. Losada, J. Martín-Albo, A. Martínez, G. Martínez-Lema, A. D. McDonald, F. Monrabal, F. J. Mora, J. Muñoz Vidal, P. Novella, D. R. Nygren, B. Palmeiro, A. Para, J. Pérez, F. Psihas, M. Querol, J. Renner, J. Repond, S. Riordan, L. Ripoll, Y. Rodríguez García, J. Rodríguez, L. Rogers, B. Romeo, C. Romo-Luque, F. P. Santos, J. M. F. dos Santos, A. Simón, C. Sofka, M. Sorel, T. Stiegler, J. F. Toledo, J. Torrent, A. Usón, J. F. C. A. Veloso, R. Webb, R. Weiss-Babai, J. T. White, K. Woodruff, and N. Yahlali

Subjects
Particle correlations and fluctuations, Photon production, Dark Matter and Double Beta Decay (experiments), Rare decay, Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity, QC770-798
Abstract

Abstract High pressure xenon Time Projection Chambers (TPC) based on secondary scintillation (electroluminescence) signal amplification are being proposed for rare event detection such as directional dark matter, double electron capture and double beta decay detection. The discrimination of the rare event through the topological signature of primary ionisation trails is a major asset for this type of TPC when compared to single liquid or double-phase TPCs, limited mainly by the high electron diffusion in pure xenon. Helium admixtures with xenon can be an attractive solution to reduce the electron diffu- sion significantly, improving the discrimination efficiency of these optical TPCs. We have measured the electroluminescence (EL) yield of Xe–He mixtures, in the range of 0 to 30% He and demonstrated the small impact on the EL yield of the addition of helium to pure xenon. For a typical reduced electric field of 2.5 kV/cm/bar in the EL region, the EL yield is lowered by ∼ 2%, 3%, 6% and 10% for 10%, 15%, 20% and 30% of helium concentration, respectively. This decrease is less than what has been obtained from the most recent simulation framework in the literature. The impact of the addition of helium on EL statistical fluctuations is negligible, within the experimental uncertainties. The present results are an important benchmark for the simulation tools to be applied to future optical TPCs based on Xe-He mixtures.

Published
2020
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6. Radiogenic backgrounds in the NEXT double beta decay experiment

Author

The NEXT collaboration, P. Novella, B. Palmeiro, M. Sorel, A. Usón, P. Ferrario, J. J. Gómez-Cadenas, C. Adams, V. Álvarez, L. Arazi, I. J. Arnquist, C. D. R Azevedo, K. Bailey, F. Ballester, J. M. Benlloch-Rodríguez, F. I. G. M. Borges, N. Byrnes, S. Cárcel, J. V. Carrión, S. Cebrían, E. Church, C. A. N. Conde, T. Contreras, G. Díaz, J. Díaz, M. Diesburg, J. Escada, R. Esteve, R. Felkai, A. F. M. Fernandes, L. M. P. Fernandes, A. L. Ferreira, E. D. C. Freitas, J. Generowicz, S. Ghosh, A. Goldschmidt, D. Gonźalez-Díaz, R. Guenette, R. M. Gutiérrez, J. Haefner, K. Hafidi, J. Hauptman, C. A. O. Henriques, J. A. Hernando Morata, P. Herrero, V. Herrero, Y. Ifergan, S. Johnston, B. J. P. Jones, M. Kekic, L. Labarga, A. Laing, P. Lebrun, N. López-March, M. Losada, R. D. P. Mano, J. Martín-Albo, A. Martínez, G. Martínez-Lema, A. D. McDonald, F. Monrabal, C. M. B. Monteiro, F. J. Mora, J. Muñoz Vidal, D. R. Nygren, A. Para, J. Pérez, F. Psihas, M. Querol, J. Renner, J. Repond, S. Riordan, L. Ripoll, Y. Rodríguez García, J. Rodríguez, L. Rogers, B. Romeo, C. Romo-Luque, F. P. Santos, J. M. F. dos Santos, A. Simón, C. Sofka, T. Stiegler, J. F. Toledo, J. Torrent, J. F. C. A. Veloso, R. Webb, R. Weiss-Babai, J. T. White, K. Woodruff, and N. Yahlali

Subjects
Dark Matter and Double Beta Decay (experiments), Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity, QC770-798
Abstract

Abstract Natural radioactivity represents one of the main backgrounds in the search for neutrinoless double beta decay. Within the NEXT physics program, the radioactivity- induced backgrounds are measured with the NEXT-White detector. Data from 37.9 days of low-background operations at the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc with xenon depleted in 136Xe are analyzed to derive a total background rate of (0.84±0.02) mHz above 1000 keV. The comparison of data samples with and without the use of the radon abatement system demonstrates that the contribution of airborne-Rn is negligible. A radiogenic background model is built upon the extensive radiopurity screening campaign conducted by the NEXT collaboration. A spectral fit to this model yields the specific contributions of 60Co, 40K, 214Bi and 208Tl to the total background rate, as well as their location in the detector volumes. The results are used to evaluate the impact of the radiogenic backgrounds in the double beta decay analyses, after the application of topological cuts that reduce the total rate to (0.25±0.01) mHz. Based on the best-fit background model, the NEXT-White median sensitivity to the two-neutrino double beta decay is found to be 3.5σ after 1 year of data taking. The background measurement in a Q ββ ±100 keV energy window validates the best-fit background model also for the neutrinoless double beta decay search with NEXT-100. Only one event is found, while the model expectation is (0.75±0.12) events.

Published
2019
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7. Demonstration of the event identification capabilities of the NEXT-White detector

Author

The NEXT collaboration, P. Ferrario, J. M. Benlloch-Rodríguez, G. Díaz López, J. A. Hernando Morata, M. Kekic, J. Renner, A. Usón, J. J. Gómez-Cadenas, C. Adams, V. Álvarez, L. Arazi, I. J. Arnquist, C. D. R Azevedo, K. Bailey, F. Ballester, F. I. G. M. Borges, N. Byrnes, S. Cárcel, J. V. Carrión, S. Cebrían, E. Church, C. A. N. Conde, T. Contreras, J. Díaz, M. Diesburg, J. Escada, R. Esteve, R. Felkai, A. F. M. Fernandes, L. M. P. Fernandes, A. L. Ferreira, E. D. C. Freitas, J. Generowicz, S. Ghosh, A. Goldschmidt, D. González-Díaz, R. Guenette, R. M. Gutíerrez, J. Haefner, K. Hafidi, J. Hauptman, C. A. O. Henriques, P. Herrero, V. Herrero, Y. Ifergan, S. Johnston, B. J. P. Jones, L. Labarga, A. Laing, P. Lebrun, N. López-March, M. Losada, R. D. P. Mano, J. Martín-Albo, A. Martínez, G. Martínez-Lema, A. D. McDonald, F. Monrabal, C. M. B. Monteiro, F. J. Mora, J. Muñoz Vidal, P. Novella, D. R. Nygren, B. Palmeiro, A. Para, J. Pérez, F. Psihas, M. Querol, J. Repond, S. Riordan, L. Ripoll, Y. Rodríguez García, J. Rodríguez, L. Rogers, B. Romeo, C. Romo-Luque, F. P. Santos, J. M. F. dos Santos, A. Simón, C. Sofka, M. Sorel, T. Stiegler, J. F. Toledo, J. Torrent, J. F. C. A. Veloso, R. Webb, R. Weiss-Babai, J. T. White, K. Woodruff, and N. Yahlali

Subjects
Dark Matter and Double Beta Decay (experiments), Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity, QC770-798
Abstract

Abstract In experiments searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay, the possibility of identifying the two emitted electrons is a powerful tool in rejecting background events and therefore improving the overall sensitivity of the experiment. In this paper we present the first measurement of the efficiency of a cut based on the different event signatures of double and single electron tracks, using the data of the NEXT-White detector, the first detector of the NEXT experiment operating underground. Using a 228Th calibration source to produce signal-like and background-like events with energies near 1.6 MeV, a signal efficiency of 71.6 ± 1.5 stat ± 0.3 sys% for a background acceptance of 20.6 ± 0.4 stat ± 0.3 sys% is found, in good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations. An extrapolation to the energy region of the neutrinoless double beta decay by means of Monte Carlo simulations is also carried out, and the results obtained show an improvement in background rejection over those obtained at lower energies.

Published
2019
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8. Energy calibration of the NEXT-White detector with 1% resolution near Q ββ of 136Xe

Author

The NEXT collaboration, J. Renner, G. Díaz López, P. Ferrario, J. A. Hernando Morata, M. Kekic, G. Martínez-Lema, F. Monrabal, J. J. Gómez-Cadenas, C. Adams, V. Álvarez, L. Arazi, I. J. Arnquist, C. D. R Azevedo, K. Bailey, F. Ballester, J. M. Benlloch-Rodríguez, F. I. G. M. Borges, N. Byrnes, S. Cárcel, J. V. Carrión, S. Cebrián, E. Church, C. A. N. Conde, T. Contreras, J. Díaz, M. Diesburg, J. Escada, R. Esteve, R. Felkai, A. F. M. Fernandes, L. M. P. Fernandes, A. L. Ferreira, E. D. C. Freitas, J. Generowicz, S. Ghosh, A. Goldschmidt, D. González-Díaz, R. Guenette, R. M. Gutiérrez, J. Haefner, K. Hafidi, J. Hauptman, C. A. O. Henriques, P. Herrero, V. Herrero, Y. Ifergan, S. Johnston, B. J. P. Jones, L. Labarga, A. Laing, P. Lebrun, N. López-March, M. Losada, R. D. P. Mano, J. Martín-Albo, A. Martínez, A. D. McDonald, C. M. B. Monteiro, F.J. Mora, J. Muñoz Vidal, P. Novella, D. R. Nygren, B. Palmeiro, A. Para, J. Pérez, F. Psihas, M. Querol, J. Repond, S. Riordan, L. Ripoll, Y. Rodríguez García, J. Rodríguez, L. Rogers, B. Romeo, C. Romo-Luque, F. P. Santos, J. M. F. dos Santos, A. Simón, C. Sofka, M. Sorel, T. Stiegler, J. F. Toledo, J. Torrent, A. Usón, J. F. C. A. Veloso, R. Webb, R. Weiss-Babai, J. T. White, K. Woodruff, and N. Yahlali

Subjects
Dark Matter and Double Beta Decay (experiments), Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity, QC770-798
Abstract

Abstract Excellent energy resolution is one of the primary advantages of electroluminescent high-pressure xenon TPCs. These detectors are promising tools in searching for rare physics events, such as neutrinoless double-beta decay (ββ0ν), which require precise energy measurements. Using the NEXT-White detector, developed by the NEXT (Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC) collaboration, we show for the first time that an energy resolution of 1% FWHM can be achieved at 2.6 MeV, establishing the present technology as the one with the best energy resolution of all xenon detectors for ββ0ν searches.

Published
2019
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9. Electroluminescence TPCs at the thermal diffusion limit

Author

The NEXT collaboration, C. A. O. Henriques, C. M. B. Monteiro, D. González-Díaz, C. D. R Azevedo, E. D. C. Freitas, R. D. P. Mano, M. R. Jorge, A. F. M. Fernandes, J. J. Gómez-Cadenas, L. M. P. Fernandes, C. Adams, V. Álvarez, L. Arazi, K. Bailey, F. Ballester, J. M. Benlloch-Rodríguez, F. I. G. M. Borges, A. Botas, S. Cárcel, J. V. Carrión, S. Cebrián, C. A. N. Conde, J. Díaz, M. Diesburg, J. Escada, R. Esteve, R. Felkai, P. Ferrario, A. L. Ferreira, J. Generowicz, A. Goldschmidt, R. Guenette, R. M. Gutiérrez, K. Hafidi, J. Hauptman, A. I. Hernandez, J. A. Hernando Morata, V. Herrero, S. Johnston, B. J. P. Jones, M. Kekic, L. Labarga, A. Laing, P. Lebrun, N. López-March, M. Losada, J. Martín-Albo, A. Martínez, G. Martínez-Lema, A. McDonald, F. Monrabal, F. J. Mora, J. Muñoz Vidal, M. Musti, M. Nebot-Guinot, P. Novella, D. R. Nygren, B. Palmeiro, A. Para, J. Pérez, F. Psihas, M. Querol, J. Renner, J. Repond, S. Riordan, L. Ripoll, J. Rodríguez, L. Rogers, C. Romo-Luque, F. P. Santos, J. M. F. dos Santos, A. Simón, C. Sofka, M. Sorel, T. Stiegler, J. F. Toledo, J. Torrent, J. F. C. A. Veloso, R. Webb, J. T. White, and N. Yahlali

Subjects
Dark Matter and Double Beta Decay (experiments), Photon production, Particle correlations and fluctuations, Rare decay, Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity, QC770-798
Abstract

Abstract The NEXT experiment aims at searching for the hypothetical neutrinoless double-beta decay from the 136Xe isotope using a high-purity xenon TPC. Efficient discrimination of the events through pattern recognition of the topology of primary ionisation tracks is a major requirement for the experiment. However, it is limited by the diffusion of electrons. It is known that the addition of a small fraction of a molecular gas to xenon reduces electron diffusion. On the other hand, the electroluminescence (EL) yield drops and the achievable energy resolution may be compromised. We have studied the effect of adding several molecular gases to xenon (CO2, CH4 and CF4) on the EL yield and energy resolution obtained in a small prototype of driftless gas proportional scintillation counter. We have compared our results on the scintillation characteristics (EL yield and energy resolution) with a microscopic simulation, obtaining the diffusion coefficients in those conditions as well. Accordingly, electron diffusion may be reduced from about 10 mm/ m $$ \sqrt{\mathrm{m}} $$ for pure xenon down to 2.5 mm/ m $$ \sqrt{\mathrm{m}} $$ using additive concentrations of about 0.05%, 0.2% and 0.02% for CO2, CH4 and CF4, respectively. Our results show that CF4 admixtures present the highest EL yield in those conditions, but very poor energy resolution as a result of huge fluctuations observed in the EL formation. CH4 presents the best energy resolution despite the EL yield being the lowest. The results obtained with xenon admixtures are extrapolated to the operational conditions of the NEXT-100 TPC. CO2 and CH4 show potential as molecular additives in a large xenon TPC. While CO2 has some operational constraints, making it difficult to be used in a large TPC, CH4 shows the best performance and stability as molecular additive to be used in the NEXT-100 TPC, with an extrapolated energy resolution of 0.4% at 2.45 MeV for concentrations below 0.4%, which is only slightly worse than the one obtained for pure xenon. We demonstrate the possibility to have an electroluminescence TPC operating very close to the thermal diffusion limit without jeopardizing the TPC performance, if CO2 or CH4 are chosen as additives.

Published
2019
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10. Measurement of radon-induced backgrounds in the NEXT double beta decay experiment

Author

The NEXT collaboration, P. Novella, B. Palmeiro, A. Simón, M. Sorel, C. Adams, P. Ferrario, G. Martínez-Lema, F. Monrabal, G. Zuzel, J. J. Gómez-Cadenas, V. Álvarez, L. Arazi, C. D. R Azevedo, K. Bailey, F. Ballester, J. M. Benlloch-Rodríguez, F. I. G. M. Borges, A. Botas, S. Cárcel, J. V. Carrión, S. Cebrián, C. A. N. Conde, J. Díaz, M. Diesburg, J. Escada, R. Esteve, R. Felkai, A. F. M. Fernandes, L. M. P. Fernandes, A. L. Ferreira, E. D. C. Freitas, J. Generowicz, A. Goldschmidt, D. González-Díaz, R. Guenette, R. M. Gutiérrez, K. Hafidi, J. Hauptman, C. A. O. Henriques, A. I. Hernandez, J. A. Hernando Morata, V. Herrero, S. Johnston, B. J. P. Jones, M. Kekic, L. Labarga, A. Laing, P. Lebrun, N. López-March, M. Losada, R. D. P. Mano, J. Martíın-Albo, A. Martínez, A. McDonald, C. M. B. Monteiro, F. J. Mora, J. Muñoz Vidal, M. Musti, M. Nebot-Guinot, D. R. Nygren, A. Para, J. Pérez, F. Psihas, M. Querol, J. Renner, J. Repond, S. Riordan, L. Ripoll, J. Rodríguez, L. Rogers, C. Romo-Luque, F. P. Santos, J. M. F. dos Santos, C. Sofka, T. Stiegler, J. F. Toledo, J. Torrent, J. F. C. A. Veloso, R. Webb, J. T. White, and N. Yahlali

Subjects
Dark Matter and Double Beta Decay (experiments), Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity, QC770-798
Abstract

Abstract The measurement of the internal 222Rn activity in the NEXT-White detector during the so-called Run-II period with 136Xe-depleted xenon is discussed in detail, together with its implications for double beta decay searches in NEXT. The activity is measured through the alpha production rate induced in the fiducial volume by 222Rn and its alpha-emitting progeny. The specific activity is measured to be (38.1 ± 2.2 (stat.) ± 5.9 (syst.)) mBq/m3. Radon-induced electrons have also been characterized from the decay of the 214Bi daughter ions plating out on the cathode of the time projection chamber. From our studies, we conclude that radon-induced backgrounds are sufficiently low to enable a successful NEXT-100 physics program, as the projected rate contribution should not exceed 0.1 counts/yr in the neutrinoless double beta decay sample.

Published
2018
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11. Sensitivity of a tonne-scale NEXT detector for neutrinoless double-beta decay searches

Author

R. Guenette, L. Ripoll, J.F. Toledo, S. Cárcel, B. J. P. Jones, P. Lebrun, A. Laing, C. Adams, N. Byrnes, A. Martínez, L.M.P. Fernandes, Javier Pérez, Iván Rivilla, F. Monrabal, I. J. Arnquist, N. López-March, J.M.R. Teixeira, Javier Rodríguez, F.I.G.M. Borges, M. Kekic, T. Contreras, A.D. McDonald, Celia Rogero, M. Losada, S. Cebrián, C. Newhouse, A.A. Denisenko, C.A.N. Conde, R.D.P. Mano, B. Palmeiro, J.A. Hernando Morata, L. Rogers, C. Romo-Luque, G. Díaz, A. Simón, Z. E. Meziani, R. Felkai, Zoraida Freixa, A. Goldschmidt, A. Usón, L. Labarga, E. Church, J. Hauptman, J.M.F. dos Santos, Kevin Bailey, C.M.B. Monteiro, J. Torrent, F.P. Santos, J.F.C.A. Veloso, E.D.C. Freitas, P. Herrero, R. Weiss-Babai, Diego González-Díaz, Y. Rodriguez Garcia, D.R. Nygren, Paola Ferrario, J. Ho, J. Renner, T.T. Vuong, Víctor H. Alvarez, J.T. White, A. Redwine, F.J. Mora, Y. Ifergan, Lior Arazi, V. Herrero, C.A.O. Henriques, E. Oblak, N. Yahlali, G. Martínez-Lema, K. Hafidi, M. Querol, A. Para, R. González, Romain Esteve, Roberto Gutiérrez, M. Sorel, C. Stanford, J. Escada, J. Haefner, A.L. Ferreira, J.V. Carrión, B. Romeo, F. Ballester, Frank W. Foss, C.D.R. Azevedo, S. Gosh, P. Thapa, R. C. Webb, J. M. Benlloch-Rodríguez, J. Muñoz Vidal, J. S. Díaz, M. Martínez-Vara, K. Woodruff, P. Novella, J. Martín-Albo, J.J. Gómez-Cadenas, J. Generowicz, European Commission, European Research Council, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España), Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España), Generalitat Valenciana, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal), Fundación 'la Caixa', and Department of Energy (US)

Subjects
Nuclear and High Energy Physics, chemistry.chemical_element, QC770-798, Parameter space, 01 natural sciences, 7. Clean energy, Atomic, Nuclear physics, Xenon, Particle and Plasma Physics, Double beta decay, Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity, 0103 physical sciences, Dark Matter and Double Beta Decay (experiments), Nuclear, Sensitivity (control systems), 010306 general physics, Mathematical Physics, Physics, Quantum Physics, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Raigs beta -- Desintegració, Detector, Molecular, Detectors, Nuclear & Particles Physics, chemistry, Beta rays -- Decay, Neutrino, Tonne, Order of magnitude
Abstract

The NEXT collaboration: et al., The Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC (NEXT) searches for the neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ) decay of 136Xe using high-pressure xenon gas TPCs with electroluminescent amplification. A scaled-up version of this technology with about 1 tonne of enriched xenon could reach in less than 5 years of operation a sensitivity to the half-life of 0νββ decay better than 1027 years, improving the current limits by at least one order of magnitude. This prediction is based on a well-understood background model dominated by radiogenic sources. The detector concept presented here represents a first step on a compelling path towards sensitivity to the parameter space defined by the inverted ordering of neutrino masses, and beyond., The NEXT Collaboration acknowledges support from the following agencies and institutions: the European Research Council (ERC) under the Advanced Grant 339787-NEXT; the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 (2014–2020) under the Grant Agreements No. 674896, 690575 and 740055; the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades of Spain under grants FIS2014-53371-C04, RTI2018-095979, the Severo Ochoa Program grants SEV-2014-0398 and CEX2018-000867-S, and the María de Maeztu Program MDM2016-0692; the Generalitat Valenciana of Spain under grants PROMETEO/2016/120 and SEJI/2017/011; the Portuguese FCT under project PTDC/FIS-NUC/2525/2014 and under projects UID/FIS/04559/2020 to fund the activities of LIBPhys-UC; the Pazy Foundation (Israel) under grants 877040 and 877041; the US Department of Energy under contracts number DE-AC02-06CH11357 (Argonne National Laboratory), DE-AC02-07CH11359 (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory), DE-FG02-13ER42020 (Texas A&M) and DE-SC0019223 / DE-SC0019054 (University of Texas at Arlington); and the University of Texas at Arlington. DGD acknowledges support from the Ramón y Cajal program (Spain) under contract number RYC-2015-18820. JM-A acknowledges support from Fundación Bancaria la Caixa (ID 100010434), grant code LCF/BQ/PI19/11690012, and from the Plan GenT program of the Generalitat Valenciana, grant code CIDEGENT/2019/049.

Published
2021

12. Demonstration of background rejection using deep convolutional neural networks in the NEXT experiment

Author

T. Contreras, Z. E. Meziani, R. Weiss-Babai, I. J. Arnquist, J.V. Carrión, J. Renner, N. López-March, L. Rogers, F.J. Mora, J. Generowicz, T.M. Stiegler, Vicente Herrero, F.P. Santos, G. Martínez-Lema, C.M.B. Monteiro, R.D.P. Mano, L.M.P. Fernandes, J.M. Benlloch-Rodríguez, P. Herrero, C. Adams, N. Byrnes, B. Palmeiro, J.A. Hernando Morata, N. Yahlali, D. González-Díaz, Y. Rodriguez Garcia, J. S. Díaz, M. Martínez-Vara, P. Novella, F.I.G.M. Borges, Romain Esteve, J.F.C.A. Veloso, E.D.C. Freitas, J. Martin-Albo, M. Del Tutto, A. Usón, R. Guenette, F. Monrabal, Roberto Gutiérrez, A.D. McDonald, C.D.R. Azevedo, J.T. White, J.F. Toledo, S. Cárcel, P. Lebrun, A. Martínez, M. Diesburg, E. Church, A. Laing, Kevin Bailey, J. Rodríguez, M. Kekic, A.B. Redwine, C.A.O. Henriques, J. Escada, L. Ripoll, J. Torrent, Lior Arazi, B. J. P. Jones, Víctor H. Alvarez, J. Haefner, B. Romeo, R. Felkai, M. Losada, A. Goldschmidt, J. Hauptman, K. Woodruff, L. Labarga, Y. Ifergan, J.M.F. dos Santos, C. Romo-Luque, Javier Pérez, S. Cebrián, Sudip Ghosh, R. C. Webb, G. Díaz, F. Ballester, Paola Ferrario, D.R. Nygren, A.F.M. Fernandes, M. Querol, C. Sofka, A. Para, M. Sorel, A.L. Ferreira, K. Hafidi, C.A.N. Conde, A. Simón, J.J. Gómez-Cadenas, J. Muñoz Vidal, and UAM. Departamento de Física Teórica

Subjects
Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors, Calibration (statistics), Computer Science::Neural and Evolutionary Computation, Nuclear physics, FOS: Physical sciences, Topology (electrical circuits), 01 natural sciences, Convolutional neural network, Atomic, Partícules (Física nuclear), High Energy Physics - Experiment, Interaccions electró-positró, TECNOLOGIA ELECTRONICA, High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex), Particle and Plasma Physics, Double beta decay, 0103 physical sciences, Dark Matter and Double Beta Decay (experiments), Nuclear, Nuclear Matrix, lcsh:Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity, 010306 general physics, Electron-positron interactions, Mathematical Physics, Particles (Nuclear physics), Physics, Quantum Physics, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, business.industry, Event (computing), Network on, SIGNAL (programming language), Molecular, Física, Pattern recognition, Detector, Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det), Beta Decay, Nuclear & Particles Physics, Doble desintegració beta, Identification (information), lcsh:QC770-798, Física nuclear, Artificial intelligence, business
Abstract

[EN] Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are widely used state-of-the-art computer vision tools that are becoming increasingly popular in high-energy physics. In this paper, we attempt to understand the potential of CNNs for event classification in the NEXT experiment, which will search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in Xe-136. To do so, we demonstrate the usage of CNNs for the identification of electron-positron pair production events, which exhibit a topology similar to that of a neutrinoless double-beta decay event. These events were produced in the NEXT-White high-pressure xenon TPC using 2.6 MeV gamma rays from a Th-228 calibration source. We train a network on Monte Carlo-simulated events and show that, by applying on-the-fly data augmentation, the network can be made robust against differences between simulation and data. The use of CNNs offers significant improvement in signal efficiency and background rejection when compared to previous non-CNN-based analyses, This study used computing resources from Artemisa, co-funded by the European Union through the 2014-2020 FEDER Operative Programme of the Comunitat Valenciana, project DIFEDER/2018/048. This research used resources of the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. The NEXT collaboration acknowledges support from the following agencies and institutions: Xunta de Galicia (Centro singularde investigacion de Galicia accreditation 2019-2022), by European Union ERDF, and by the "Maria de Maeztu" Units of Excellence program MDM-2016-0692 and the Spanish Research State Agency"; the European Research Council (ERC) under the Advanced Grant 339787-NEXT; the European Union's Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 (2014-2020) under the Grant Agreements No. 674896, 690575 and 740055; the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad and the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades of Spain under grants FIS2014-53371-C04, RTI2018-095979, the Severo Ochoa Program grants SEV-20140398 and CEX2018-000867-S; the GVA of Spain under grants PROMETEO/2016/120 and SEJI/2017/011; the Portuguese FCT under project PTDC/FIS-NUC/2525/2014 and under projects UID/FIS/04559/2020 to fund the activities of LIBPhys-UC; the U.S. Department of Energy under contracts number DE-AC02-07CH11359 (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory), DE-FG02-13ER42020 (Texas A&M) and DE-SC0019223/DE SC0019054 (University of Texas at Arlington); and the University of Texas at Arlington. DGD acknowledges Ramon y Cajal program (Spain) under contract number RYC-2015 18820. JMA acknowledges support from Fundacion Bancaria "la Caixa" (ID 100010434), grant code LCF/BQ/PI19/11690012. We also warmly acknowledge the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) and the Dark Side collaboration for their help with TPB coating of various parts of the NEXT-White TPC. Finally, we are grateful to the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc for hosting and supporting the NEXT experiment.

Published
2021

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