1. New limits on nucleon decays into invisible channels with the BOREXINO counting test facility
- Author
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Back, H. O., Balata, DE BARI, A., Beau, T., DE BELLEFON, A., Bellini, G., Benziger, J., Bonetti, S., Brigatti, A., Buck, C., Caccianiga, B., Cadonati, L., Calaprice, F. P., Cecchet, G., Chen, M., DE HAAS, E., DI CREDICO, A., Dadoun, O., D'Angelo, D., Derbin, A., Deutsch, M., Elisei, F., Etenko, A., VON FEILITZSCH, F., Fernholz, R., Ford, R., Franco, D., Freudiger, B., Galbiati, C., Gatti, Flavio, Gazzana, S., Giammarchi, M. G., Giugni, D., Golubchikov, A., Goretti, A., Grieb, C., Hagner, T., Hagner, C., Hampel, W., Harding, E., Hartmann, F., G. HEUSSER G., Ianni, A., Ianni, A. M., DE KERRET, H., Kiko, J., Kirsten, T., Kohler, M., Korga, G., Korschinek, G., Kryn, D., Laubenstein, M., Lendvai, C., Lombardi, P., Machulin, I., Malvezzi, S., Maneira, J., Manno, I., Manuzio, Giulio, Masetti, F., Martemiamov, A., Mazzucato, U., Mccarty, K., Meroni, E., Miramonti, L., Monzani, M. E., Musico, P., Neder, H., Neff, M., Oberauer, L., Obolensky, M., Ortica, F., Pallavicini, Marco, Papp, L., Perasso, L., Pocar, A., Raghavan, R. S., Ranucci, G., Rau, W., Razeto, A., Resconi, E., Sabelnikov, A., Salvo, C., Scardaoni, R., Schoenert, S., Seidel, H., Simgen, H., Shutt, T., Skorokhvatov, M., Smirnov, O., Sonnenschein, A., Sotnikov, A., Sukhotin, S., Tarasenkov, V., Tartaglia, R., Testera, G., Vignaud, D., Vitale, Sandro, Vogelaar, R. B., Vyrodov, V., Woijcik, M., Zaimidoroga, O., Zuzel, G., Physique Corpusculaire et Cosmologie - Collège de France (PCC), Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Borexino, and Lantz, Simone
- Subjects
Physics ,Nuclear and High Energy Physics ,Particle physics ,Test facility ,[PHYS.HEXP] Physics [physics]/High Energy Physics - Experiment [hep-ex] ,Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors ,010308 nuclear & particles physics ,FOS: Physical sciences ,01 natural sciences ,High Energy Physics - Experiment ,3. Good health ,High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex) ,0103 physical sciences ,[PHYS.HEXP]Physics [physics]/High Energy Physics - Experiment [hep-ex] ,Underground laboratory ,High Energy Physics::Experiment ,Nuclide ,Neutrino ,010306 general physics ,Nucleon ,Borexino - Abstract
The results of background measurements with the second version of the BOREXINO Counting Test Facility (CTF-II), installed in the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory, were used to obtain limits on the instability of nucleons, bounded in nuclei, for decays into invisible channels ($inv$): disappearance, decays to neutrinos, etc. The approach consisted of a search for decays of unstable nuclides resulting from $N$ and $NN$ decays of parents $^{12}$C, $^{13}$C and $^{16}$O nuclei in the liquid scintillator and the water shield of the CTF. Due to the extremely low background and the large mass (4.2 ton) of the CTF detector, the most stringent (or competitive) up-to-date experimental bounds have been established: $��(n \to inv) > 1.8 \cdot 10^{25}$ y, $��(p \to inv) > 1.1 \cdot 10^{26}$ y, $��(nn \to inv) > 4.9 \cdot 10^{25}$ y and $��(pp \to inv) > 5.0 \cdot 10^{25}$ y, all at 90% C.L., 22 pages, 3 figures,submitted to Phys.Lett. B
- Published
- 2003