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1. Direct measurement of the low energy resonances in $^{22}\rm{Ne}(\alpha,\gamma)^{26}\rm{Mg}$ reaction

Author

Shahina, S., Gorres, J., Robertson, D., Couder, M., Gomez, O., Gula, A., Hanhardt, M., Kadlecek, T., Kelmar, R., Scholz, P., Simon, A., Stech, E., Strieder, F., and Wiescher, M.

Subjects
Nuclear Experiment
Abstract

The $^{22}\rm{Ne}(\alpha,\gamma)^{26}\rm{Mg}$ is an important reaction in stellar helium burning environments as it competes directly with one of the main neutron sources for the s-process, the $^{22}\rm{Ne}(\alpha,n)^{25}\rm{Mg}$ reaction. The reaction rate of the $^{22}\rm{Ne}(\alpha,\gamma)^{26}\rm{Mg}$ is dominated by the low energy resonances at $E_{\alpha}^{lab}$ = 650 and 830 keV respectively. The $E_{\alpha}^{lab}$ = 830 keV resonance has been measured previously, but there are some uncertainties in the previous measurements. We confirmed the measurement of the $E_{\alpha}^{lab}$ = 830 keV resonance using implanted $^{22}$Ne targets. We obtained a resonance strength of $\omega\gamma$ = 35 $\pm$ 4 $\mu eV$, and provide a weighted average of the present and previous measurements of $\omega\gamma$ = 35 $\pm$ 2 $\mu eV$ with reduced uncertainties compared to previous studies. We also attempted to measure the strength of the predicted resonance at $E_{\alpha}^{lab}$ = 650 keV directly for the first time and found an upper limit of $\omega\gamma$ $\mathrm{<0.15}$ $\mu eV$ for the strength of this resonance. In addition, we also studied the $E_{P}^{lab}$= 851 keV resonance in $^{22}\rm{Ne}(p,\gamma)^{23}\rm{Na}$, and obtained a resonance strength of $\omega\gamma$ = 9.2 $\pm$ 0.7 eV with significantly lower uncertainties compared to previous measurements., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures

Published
2022
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2. Extending light WIMP searches to single scintillation photons in LUX

Author

Akerib, D. S., Alsum, S., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Baxter, A., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Boxer, B., Brás, P., Burdin, S., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Chiller, A. A., Chiller, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., de Viveiros, L., Dobi, A., Dobson, J. E. Y., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Faham, C. H., Fallon, S. R., Fan, A., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gehman, V. M., Genovesi, J., Ghag, C., Gibson, K. R., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Grace, E., Gwilliam, C., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Jacobsen, R. G., Jahangir, O., Ji, W., Kamdin, K., Kazka, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Korolkova, E. V., Kravitz, S., Kudryavtsev, V. A., Larsen, N. A., Leason, E., Lee, C., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Levy, C., Liao, J., Lin, J., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., López-Paredes, B., Manalaysay, A., Mannino, R. L., Marangou, N., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Naylor, A., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., Nilima, A., O'Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Palladino, K. J., Pease, E. K., Reichhart, L., Riffard, Q., Rischbieter, G. R. C., Rossiter, P., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solmaz, M., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Stephenson, S., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, R., Taylor, W. C., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Utku, U., Uvarov, S., Vacheret, A., Velan, V., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Woodward, D., Xu, J., Yazdani, K., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, High Energy Physics - Experiment, Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors
Abstract

We present a novel analysis technique for liquid xenon time projection chambers that allows for a lower threshold by relying on events with a prompt scintillation signal consisting of single detected photons. The energy threshold of the LUX dark matter experiment is primarily determined by the smallest scintillation response detectable, which previously required a 2-fold coincidence signal in its photomultiplier arrays, enforced in data analysis. The technique presented here exploits the double photoelectron emission effect observed in some photomultiplier models at vacuum ultraviolet wavelengths. We demonstrate this analysis using an electron recoil calibration dataset and place new constraints on the spin-independent scattering cross section of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) down to 2.5 GeV/c$^2$ WIMP mass using the 2013 LUX dataset. This new technique is promising to enhance light WIMP and astrophysical neutrino searches in next-generation liquid xenon experiments.

Published
2019
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3. Calibration, event reconstruction, data analysis and limits calculation for the LUX dark matter experiment

Author

Akerib, D. S., Alsum, S., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Brás, P., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., Dobi, A., Dobson, J. E. Y., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Faham, C. H., Fallon, S. R., Fan, A., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gehman, V. M., Genovesi, J., Ghag, C., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kamdin, K., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lee, C., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Manalaysay, A., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O'Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Palladino, K. J., Pease, E. K., Reichhart, L., Rhyne, C., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solmaz, M., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W. C., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Velan, V., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Xu, J., Yazdani, K., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors
Abstract

The LUX experiment has performed searches for dark matter particles scattering elastically on xenon nuclei, leading to stringent upper limits on the nuclear scattering cross sections for dark matter. Here, for results derived from ${1.4}\times 10^{4}\;\mathrm{kg\,days}$ of target exposure in 2013, details of the calibration, event-reconstruction, modeling, and statistical tests that underlie the results are presented. Detector performance is characterized, including measured efficiencies, stability of response, position resolution, and discrimination between electron- and nuclear-recoil populations. Models are developed for the drift field, optical properties, background populations, the electron- and nuclear-recoil responses, and the absolute rate of low-energy background events. Innovations in the analysis include in situ measurement of the photomultipliers' response to xenon scintillation photons, verification of fiducial mass with a low-energy internal calibration source, and new empirical models for low-energy signal yield based on large-sample, in situ calibrations.

Published
2017
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4. Position Reconstruction in LUX

Author

LUX Collaboration, Akerib, D. S., Alsum, S., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Brás, P., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., Dobi, A., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Fallon, S. R., Fan, A., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Genovesi, J., Ghag, C., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kamdin, K., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Manalaysay, A., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O'Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Palladino, K. J., Pease, E. K., Rhyne, C., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solmaz, M., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W. C., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Velan, V., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Xu, J., Yazdani, K., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors, High Energy Physics - Experiment, Physics - Computational Physics
Abstract

The $(x, y)$ position reconstruction method used in the analysis of the complete exposure of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment is presented. The algorithm is based on a statistical test that makes use of an iterative method to recover the photomultiplier tube (PMT) light response directly from the calibration data. The light response functions make use of a two dimensional functional form to account for the photons reflected on the inner walls of the detector. To increase the resolution for small pulses, a photon counting technique was employed to describe the response of the PMTs. The reconstruction was assessed with calibration data including ${}^{\mathrm{83m}}$Kr (releasing a total energy of 41.5 keV) and ${}^{3}$H ($\beta^-$ with Q = 18.6 keV) decays, and a deuterium-deuterium (D-D) neutron beam (2.45 MeV). In the horizontal plane, the reconstruction has achieved an $(x, y)$ position uncertainty of $\sigma$= 0.82 cm for events of only 200 electroluminescence photons and $\sigma$ = 0.17 cm for 4,000 electroluminescence photons. Such signals are associated with electron recoils of energies $\sim$0.25 keV and $\sim$10 keV, respectively. The reconstructed position of the smallest events with a single electron emitted from the liquid surface has a horizontal $(x, y)$ uncertainty of 2.13 cm., Comment: 30 pages, 17 figures

Published
2017
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5. Ultra-Low Energy Calibration of LUX Detector using $^{127}$Xe Electron Capture

Author

LUX Collaboration, Akerib, D. S., Alsum, S., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Brás, P., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., Dobi, A., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Fallon, S. R., Fan, A., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Genovesi, J., Ghag, C., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kamdin, K., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Manalaysay, A., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O'Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Palladino, K. J., Pease, E. K., Rhyne, C., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solmaz, M., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W. C., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Velan, V., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Xu, J., Yazdani, K., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, High Energy Physics - Experiment
Abstract

We report an absolute calibration of the ionization yields($\textit{Q$_y$})$ and fluctuations for electronic recoil events in liquid xenon at discrete energies between 186 eV and 33.2 keV. The average electric field applied across the liquid xenon target is 180 V/cm. The data are obtained using low energy $^{127}$Xe electron capture decay events from the 95.0-day first run from LUX (WS2013) in search of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). The sequence of gamma-ray and X-ray cascades associated with $^{127}$I de-excitations produces clearly identified 2-vertex events in the LUX detector. We observe the K- (binding energy, 33.2 keV), L- (5.2 keV), M- (1.1 keV), and N- (186 eV) shell cascade events and verify that the relative ratio of observed events for each shell agrees with calculations. The N-shell cascade analysis includes single extracted electron (SE) events and represents the lowest-energy electronic recoil $\textit{in situ}$ measurements that have been explored in liquid xenon., Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables

Published
2017
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6. 3D Modeling of Electric Fields in the LUX Detector

Author

LUX Collaboration, Akerib, D. S., Alsum, S., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Brás, P., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., Dobi, A., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Fallon, S. R., Fan, A., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Genovesi, J., Ghag, C., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kamdin, K., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Manalaysay, A., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O'Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Palladino, K. J., Pease, E. K., Rhyne, C., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solmaz, M., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W. C., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Velan, V., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Xu, J., Yazdani, K., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors, High Energy Physics - Experiment, Physics - Computational Physics
Abstract

This work details the development of a three-dimensional (3D) electric field model for the LUX detector. The detector took data during two periods of searching for weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) searches. After the first period completed, a time-varying non-uniform negative charge developed in the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) panels that define the radial boundary of the detector's active volume. This caused electric field variations in the detector in time, depth and azimuth, generating an electrostatic radially-inward force on electrons on their way upward to the liquid surface. To map this behavior, 3D electric field maps of the detector's active volume were built on a monthly basis. This was done by fitting a model built in COMSOL Multiphysics to the uniformly distributed calibration data that were collected on a regular basis. The modeled average PTFE charge density increased over the course of the exposure from -3.6 to $-5.5~\mu$C/m$^2$. From our studies, we deduce that the electric field magnitude varied while the mean value of the field of $\sim200$~V/cm remained constant throughout the exposure. As a result of this work the varying electric fields and their impact on event reconstruction and discrimination were successfully modeled.

Published
2017
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7. $^{83\textrm{m}}$Kr calibration of the 2013 LUX dark matter search

Author

LUX Collaboration, Akerib, D. S., Alsum, S., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Brás, P., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., Dobi, A., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Fallon, S. R., Fan, A., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Genovesi, J., Ghag, C., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kamdin, K., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Manalaysay, A., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O'Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Palladino, K. J., Pease, E. K., Rhyne, C., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solmaz, M., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W. C., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Velan, V., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Xu, J., Yazdani, K., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors
Abstract

LUX was the first dark matter experiment to use a $^{83\textrm{m}}$Kr calibration source. In this paper we describe the source preparation and injection. We also present several $^{83\textrm{m}}$Kr calibration applications in the context of the 2013 LUX exposure, including the measurement of temporal and spatial variation in scintillation and charge signal amplitudes, and several methods to understand the electric field within the time projection chamber.

Published
2017
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8. Limits on spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross section obtained from the complete LUX exposure

Author

LUX Collaboration, Akerib, D. S., Alsum, S., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Brás, P., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Chiller, A. A., Chiller, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., Dobi, A., Dobson, J. E. Y., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Faham, C. H., Fallon, S. R., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gehman, V. M., Ghag, C., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kamdin, K., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lee, C., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Manalaysay, A., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O'Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Palladino, K. J., Pease, E. K., Reichhart, L., Rhyne, C., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solmaz, M., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Stephenson, S., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W. C., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Velan, V., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Xu, J., Yazdani, K., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Abstract

We present experimental constraints on the spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon elastic cross sections from the total 129.5 kg-year exposure acquired by the Large Underground Xenon experiment (LUX), operating at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota (USA). A profile likelihood ratio analysis allows 90% CL upper limits to be set on the WIMP-neutron (WIMP-proton) cross section of $\sigma_n$ = 1.6$\times 10^{-41}$ cm$^{2}$ ($\sigma_p$ = 5$\times 10^{-40}$ cm$^{2}$) at 35 GeV$c^{-2}$, almost a sixfold improvement over the previous LUX spin-dependent results. The spin-dependent WIMP-neutron limit is the most sensitive constraint to date., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, version accepted by PRL

Published
2017
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9. First Searches for Axions and Axion-Like Particles with the LUX Experiment

Author

Akerib, D. S., Alsum, S., Aquino, C., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Brás, P., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Chiller, A. A., Chiller, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., Dobi, A., Dobson, J. E. Y., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Faham, C. H., Fallon, S. R., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gehman, V. M., Ghag, C., Gibson, K. R., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kamdin, K., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lee, C., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Manalaysay, A., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O'Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Palladino, K. J., Pease, E. K., Reichhart, L., Rhyne, C., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solmaz, M., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Stephenson, S., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W. C., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Velan, V., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Xu, J., Yazdani, K., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics, High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Abstract

The first searches for axions and axion-like particles with the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment are presented. Under the assumption of an axio-electric interaction in xenon, the coupling constant between axions and electrons, gAe is tested, using data collected in 2013 with an exposure totalling 95 live-days $\times$ 118 kg. A double-sided, profile likelihood ratio statistic test excludes gAe larger than 3.5 $\times$ 10$^{-12}$ (90% C.L.) for solar axions. Assuming the DFSZ theoretical description, the upper limit in coupling corresponds to an upper limit on axion mass of 0.12 eV/c$^{2}$, while for the KSVZ description masses above 36.6 eV/c$^{2}$ are excluded. For galactic axion-like particles, values of gAe larger than 4.2 $\times$ 10$^{-13}$ are excluded for particle masses in the range 1-16 keV/c$^{2}$. These are the most stringent constraints to date for these interactions.

Published
2017
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10. Signal yields, energy resolution, and recombination fluctuations in liquid xenon

Author

Akerib, D. S., Alsum, S., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Bramante, R., Brás, P., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Chiller, A. A., Chiller, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., Dobi, A., Dobson, J. E. Y., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gehman, V. M., Ghag, C., Gibson, K. R., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kamdin, K., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lee, C., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Manalaysay, A., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. -M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O'Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Palladino, K. J., Pease, E. K., Phelps, P., Reichhart, L., Rhyne, C., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solmaz, M., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Stephenson, S., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W. C., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Xu, J., Yazdani, K., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors, High Energy Physics - Experiment
Abstract

This work presents an analysis of monoenergetic electronic recoil peaks in the dark-matter-search and calibration data from the first underground science run of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) detector. Liquid xenon charge and light yields for electronic recoil energies between 5.2 and 661.7 keV are measured, as well as the energy resolution for the LUX detector at those same energies. Additionally, there is an interpretation of existing measurements and descriptions of electron-ion recombination fluctuations in liquid xenon as limiting cases of a more general liquid xenon re- combination fluctuation model. Measurements of the standard deviation of these fluctuations at monoenergetic electronic recoil peaks exhibit a linear dependence on the number of ions for energy deposits up to 661.7 keV, consistent with previous LUX measurements between 2-16 keV with $^3$H. We highlight similarities in liquid xenon recombination for electronic and nuclear recoils with a comparison of recombination fluctuations measured with low-energy calibration data., Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables

Published
2016
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11. Results from a search for dark matter in the complete LUX exposure

Author

Akerib, D. S., Alsum, S., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Bramante, R., Brás, P., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Chiller, A. A., Chiller, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., Dobi, A., Dobson, J. E. Y., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gehman, V. M., Ghag, C., Gibson, K. R., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kamdin, K., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lee, C., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Manalaysay, A., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O`Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Palladino, K. J., Pease, E. K., Phelps, P., Reichhart, L., Rhyne, C., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solmaz, M., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Stephenson, S., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W. C., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Xu, J., Yazdani, K., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, High Energy Physics - Experiment, Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors
Abstract

We report constraints on spin-independent weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP)-nucleon scattering using a 3.35e4 kg-day exposure of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment. A dual-phase xenon time projection chamber with 250 kg of active mass is operated at the Sanford Underground Research Facility under Lead, South Dakota (USA). With roughly fourfold improvement in sensitivity for high WIMP masses relative to our previous results, this search yields no evidence of WIMP nuclear recoils. At a WIMP mass of 50 GeV/c^2, WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross sections above 2.2e-46 cm^2 are excluded at the 90% confidence level. When combined with the previously reported LUX exposure, this exclusion strengthens to 1.1e-46 cm^2 at 50 GeV/c^2., Comment: This version includes a combined analysis with previously published LUX results, and matches the version published in PRL

Published
2016
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12. Low-energy (0.7-74 keV) nuclear recoil calibration of the LUX dark matter experiment using D-D neutron scattering kinematics

Author

LUX Collaboration, Akerib, D. S., Alsum, S., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Bradley, A., Bramante, R., Brás, P., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Chapman, J. J., Chiller, A. A., Chiller, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., de Viveiros, L., Dobi, A., Dobson, J. E. Y., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gehman, V. M., Ghag, C., Gibson, K. R., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kamdin, K., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lee, C., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Malling, D. C., Manalaysay, A., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O'Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Palladino, K. J., Pangilinan, M., Pease, E. K., Phelps, P., Reichhart, L., Rhyne, C. A., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solmaz, M., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Stephenson, S., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W. C., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Xu, J., Yazdani, K., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, High Energy Physics - Experiment
Abstract

The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment is a dual-phase liquid xenon time projection chamber (TPC) operating at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. A calibration of nuclear recoils in liquid xenon was performed $\textit{in situ}$ in the LUX detector using a collimated beam of mono-energetic 2.45 MeV neutrons produced by a deuterium-deuterium (D-D) fusion source. The nuclear recoil energy from the first neutron scatter in the TPC was reconstructed using the measured scattering angle defined by double-scatter neutron events within the active xenon volume. We measured the absolute charge ($Q_{y}$) and light ($L_{y}$) yields at an average electric field of 180 V/cm for nuclear recoil energies spanning 0.7 to 74 keV and 1.1 to 74 keV, respectively. This calibration of the nuclear recoil signal yields will permit the further refinement of liquid xenon nuclear recoil signal models and, importantly for dark matter searches, clearly demonstrates measured ionization and scintillation signals in this medium at recoil energies down to $\mathcal{O}$(1 keV)., Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures, 6 tables

Published
2016

13. Chromatographic separation of radioactive noble gases from xenon

Author

LUX Collaboration, Akerib, D. S., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Bramante, R., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Chiller, A. A., Chiller, C., Coffey, T., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., Dobi, A., Dobson, J. E. Y., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gehman, V. M., Ghag, C., Gibson, K. R., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kamdin, K., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lee, C., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Manalaysay, A., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. -M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O'Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Palladino, K. J., Pease, E. K., Pech, K., Phelps, P., Reichhart, L., Rhyne, C., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Stephenson, S., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Yazdani, K., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors
Abstract

The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment operates at the Sanford Underground Research Facility to detect nuclear recoils from the hypothetical Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) on a liquid xenon target. Liquid xenon typically contains trace amounts of the noble radioactive isotopes $^{85}$Kr and $^{39}$Ar that are not removed by the in situ gas purification system. The decays of these isotopes at concentrations typical of research-grade xenon would be a dominant background for a WIMP search exmperiment. To remove these impurities from the liquid xenon, a chromatographic separation system based on adsorption on activated charcoal was built. 400 kg of xenon was processed, reducing the average concentration of krypton from 130 ppb to 3.5 ppt as measured by a cold-trap assisted mass spectroscopy system. A 50 kg batch spiked to 0.001 g/g of krypton was processed twice and reduced to an upper limit of 0.2 ppt., Comment: Accepted in Astropart. Phys

Published
2016
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14. Results on the Spin-Dependent Scattering of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles on Nucleons from the Run 3 Data of the LUX Experiment

Author

LUX Collaboration, Akerib, D. S., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Bradley, A., Bramante, R., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Chapman, J. J., Chiller, A. A., Chiller, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., de Viveiros, L., Dobi, A., Dobson, J. E. Y., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gehman, V. M., Ghag, C., Gibson, K. R., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lee, C., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Malling, D. C., Manalaysay, A., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O'Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Ott, R. A., Palladino, K. J., Pangilinan, M., Pease, E. K., Phelps, P., Reichhart, L., Rhyne, C., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Stephenson, S., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Yazdani, K., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
High Energy Physics - Experiment, High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Abstract

We present the first experimental constraints on the spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon elastic cross sections from LUX data acquired in 2013. LUX is a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber operating at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (Lead, South Dakota), which is designed to observe the recoil signature of galactic WIMPs scattering from xenon nuclei. A profile likelihood ratio analysis of $1.4~\times~10^{4}~\text{kg}\cdot~\text{days}$ of fiducial exposure allows 90% CL upper limits to be set on the WIMP-neutron (WIMP-proton) cross section of $\sigma_n~=~9.4~\times~10^{-41}~\text{cm}^2$ ($\sigma_p~=~2.9~\times~10^{-39}~\text{cm}^2$) at 33 GeV/c$^2$. The spin-dependent WIMP-neutron limit is the most sensitive constraint to date., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures

Published
2016
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15. Improved Limits on Scattering of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles from Reanalysis of 2013 LUX data

Author

LUX Collaboration, Akerib, D. S., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Bradley, A., Bramante, R., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Chapman, J. J., Chiller, A. A., Chiller, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., de Viveiros, L., Dobi, A., Dobson, J. E. Y., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gehman, V. M., Ghag, C., Gibson, K. R., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lee, C., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Malling, D. C., Manalaysay, A., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O`Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Ott, R. A., Palladino, K. J., Pangilinan, M., Pease, E. K., Phelps, P., Reichhart, L., Rhyne, C., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Stephenson, S., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Yazdani, K., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, High Energy Physics - Experiment, Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors
Abstract

We present constraints on weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP)-nucleus scattering from the 2013 data of the Large Underground Xenon dark matter experiment, including $1.4\times10^{4}\;\mathrm{kg\; day}$ of search exposure. This new analysis incorporates several advances: single-photon calibration at the scintillation wavelength, improved event-reconstruction algorithms, a revised background model including events originating on the detector walls in an enlarged fiducial volume, and new calibrations from decays of an injected tritium $\beta$ source and from kinematically constrained nuclear recoils down to 1.1 keV. Sensitivity, especially to low-mass WIMPs, is enhanced compared to our previous results which modeled the signal only above a 3 keV minimum energy. Under standard dark matter halo assumptions and in the mass range above 4 $\mathrm{GeV}\,c^{-2}$, these new results give the most stringent direct limits on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross section. The 90% C.L. upper limit has a minimum of 0.6 zb at 33 $\mathrm{GeV}\,c^{-2}$ WIMP mass., Comment: Accepted by Phys. Rev. Lett

Published
2015
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16. Tritium calibration of the LUX dark matter experiment

Author

LUX Collaboration, Akerib, D. S., Araújo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Bradley, A., Bramante, R., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Chapman, J. J., Chiller, A. A., Chiller, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., de Viveiros, L., Dobi, A., Dobson, J. E. Y., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gehman, V. M., Ghag, C., Gibson, K. R., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lee, C., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Malling, D. C., Manalaysay, A. G., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O`Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Ott, R. A., Palladino, K. J., Pangilinan, M., Pease, E. K., Phelps, P., Reichhart, L., Rhyne, C., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Stephenson, S., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, High Energy Physics - Experiment
Abstract

We present measurements of the electron-recoil (ER) response of the LUX dark matter detector based upon 170,000 highly pure and spatially-uniform tritium decays. We reconstruct the tritium energy spectrum using the combined energy model and find good agreement with expectations. We report the average charge and light yields of ER events in liquid xenon at 180 V/cm and 105 V/cm and compare the results to the NEST model. We also measure the mean charge recombination fraction and its fluctuations, and we investigate the location and width of the LUX ER band. These results provide input to a re-analysis of the LUX Run3 WIMP search.

Published
2015
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17. FPGA-based Trigger System for the LUX Dark Matter Experiment

Author

Akerib, D. S., Araujo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Beltrame, P., Bernard, E. P., Bernstein, A., Biesiadzinski, T. P., Boulton, E. M., Bradley, A., Bramante, R., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Chapman, J. J., Chiller, A. A., Chiller, C., Currie, A., Cutter, J. E., Davison, T. J. R., de Viveiros, L., Dobi, A., Dobson, J. E. Y., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B. N., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gehman, V. M., Ghag, C., Gibson, K. R., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C. R., Hanhardt, M., Haselschwardt, S. J., Hertel, S. A., Hogan, D. P., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ignarra, C. M., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Ji, W., Kazkaz, K., Khaitan, D., Knoche, R., Larsen, N. A., Lee, C., Lenardo, B. G., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Malling, D. C., Manalaysay, A. G., Mannino, R. L., Marzioni, M. F., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. -M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J. A., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H. N., Neves, F., O'Sullivan, K., Oliver-Mallory, K. C., Ott, R. A., Palladino, K. J., Pangilinan, M., Pease, E. K., Phelps, P., Reichhart, L., Rhyne, C., Shaw, S., Shutt, T. A., Silva, C., Skulski, W., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Stephenson, S., Sumner, T. J., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D. J., Taylor, W., Tennyson, B. P., Terman, P. A., Tiedt, D. R., To, W. H., Tripathi, M., Tvrznikova, L., Uvarov, S., Verbus, J. R., Webb, R. C., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Witherell, M. S., Wolfs, F. L. H., Yen, M., Yin, J., Young, S. K., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors
Abstract

LUX is a two-phase (liquid/gas) xenon time projection chamber designed to detect nuclear recoils resulting from interactions with dark matter particles. Signals from the detector are processed with an FPGA-based digital trigger system that analyzes the incoming data in real-time, with just a few microsecond latency. The system enables first pass selection of events of interest based on their pulse shape characteristics and 3D localization of the interactions. It has been shown to be >99% efficient in triggering on S2 signals induced by only few extracted liquid electrons. It is continuously and reliably operating since its full underground deployment in early 2013. This document is an overview of the systems capabilities, its inner workings, and its performance., Comment: 11 pages, 26 figures, added some key points to the abstract, and conclusions, no change in results, accepted for publication in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A

Published
2015
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18. First results from the LUX dark matter experiment at the Sanford Underground Research Facility

Author

LUX Collaboration, Akerib, D. S., Araujo, H. M., Bai, X., Bailey, A. J., Balajthy, J., Bedikian, S., Bernard, E., Bernstein, A., Bolozdynya, A., Bradley, A., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chan, C., Chapman, J. J., Chiller, A. A., Chiller, C., Clark, K., Coffey, T., Currie, A., Curioni, A., Dazeley, S., de Viveiros, L., Dobi, A., Dobson, J., Dragowsky, E. M., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Flores, C., Gaitskell, R. J., Gehman, V. M., Ghag, C., Gibson, K. R., Gilchriese, M. G. D., Hall, C., Hanhardt, M., Hertel, S. A., Horn, M., Huang, D. Q., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Kastens, L., Kazkaz, K., Knoche, R., Kyre, S., Lander, R., Larsen, N. A., Lee, C., Leonard, D. S., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Lyashenko, A., Malling, D. C., Mannino, R., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. -M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morad, J., Morii, M., Murphy, A. St. J., Nehrkorn, C., Nelson, H., Neves, F., Nikkel, J. A., Ott, R. A., Pangilinan, M., Parker, P. D., Pease, E. K., Pech, K., Phelps, P., Reichhart, L., Shutt, T., Silva, C., Skulski, W., Sofka, C. J., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Stiegler, T., O`Sullivan, K., Sumner, T. J., Svoboda, R., Sweany, M., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D., Tennyson, B., Tiedt, D. R., Tripathi, M., Uvarov, S., Verbus, J. R., Walsh, N., Webb, R., White, J. T., White, D., Witherell, M. S., Wlasenko, M., Wolfs, F. L. H., Woods, M., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Astrophysics - Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, High Energy Physics - Experiment, Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors
Abstract

The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment, a dual-phase xenon time-projection chamber operating at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (Lead, South Dakota), was cooled and filled in February 2013. We report results of the first WIMP search dataset, taken during the period April to August 2013, presenting the analysis of 85.3 live-days of data with a fiducial volume of 118 kg. A profile-likelihood analysis technique shows our data to be consistent with the background-only hypothesis, allowing 90% confidence limits to be set on spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic scattering with a minimum upper limit on the cross section of $7.6 \times 10^{-46}$ cm$^{2}$ at a WIMP mass of 33 GeV/c$^2$. We find that the LUX data are in strong disagreement with low-mass WIMP signal interpretations of the results from several recent direct detection experiments., Comment: Accepted by Phys. Rev. Lett. Appendix A included as supplementary material with PRL article

Published
2013
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19. The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) Experiment

Author

Akerib, D. S., Bai, X., Bedikian, S., Bernard, E., Bernstein, A., Bolozdynya, A., Bradley, A., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Camp, C., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Carr, D., Chapman, J. J., Chiller, A., Chiller, C., Clark, K., Classen, T., Coffey, T., Curioni, A., Dahl, E., Dazeley, S., de Viveiros, L., Dobi, A., Dragowsky, E., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gibson, K. R., Gilchriese, M., Hall, C., Hanhardt, M., Holbrook, B., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Kastens, L., Kazkaz, K., Knoche, R., Kyre, S., Kwong, J., Lander, R., Larsen, N. A., Lee, C., Leonard, D. S., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Lyashenko, A., Malling, D. C., Mannino, R., Marquez, Z., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. -M., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morii, M., Nelson, H., Neves, F., Nikkel, J. A., Pangilinan, M., Parker, P. D., Pease, E. K., Pech, K., Phelps, P., Rodionov, A., Roberts, P., Shei, A., Shutt, T., Silva, C., Skulski, W., Solovov, V. N., Sofka, C. J., Sorensen, P., Spaans, J., Stiegler, T., Stolp, D., Svoboda, R., Sweany, M., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D., Thomson, J., Tripathi, M., Uvarov, S., Verbus, J. R., Walsh, N., Webb, R., White, D., White, J. T., Whitis, T. J., Wlasenko, M., Wolfs, F. L. H., Woods, M., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors, High Energy Physics - Experiment
Abstract

The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) collaboration has designed and constructed a dual-phase xenon detector, in order to conduct a search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles(WIMPs), a leading dark matter candidate. The goal of the LUX detector is to clearly detect (or exclude) WIMPS with a spin independent cross section per nucleon of $2\times 10^{-46}$ cm$^{2}$, equivalent to $\sim$1 event/100 kg/month in the inner 100-kg fiducial volume (FV) of the 370-kg detector. The overall background goals are set to have $<$1 background events characterized as possible WIMPs in the FV in 300 days of running. This paper describes the design and construction of the LUX detector., Comment: 50 pages, 16 figures

Published
2012
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20. Technical Results from the Surface Run of the LUX Dark Matter Experiment

Author

LUX Collaboration, Akerib, D. S., Bai, X., Bernard, E., Bernstein, A., Bradley, A., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Chapman, J. J., Coffey, T., Dobi, A., Dragowsky, E., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gibson, K. R., Gilchriese, M., Hall, C., Hanhardt, M., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Kastens, L., Kazkaz, K., Knoche, R., Larsen, N., Lee, C., Lesko, K. T., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Lyashenko, A., Malling, D. C., Mannino, R., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D., Mock, J., Moongweluwan, M., Morii, M., Nelson, H., Neves, F., Nikkel, J. A., Pangilinan, M., Pech, K., Phelps, P., Rodionov, A., Shutt, T., Silva, C., Skulski, W., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Stiegler, T., Sweany, M., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D., Tripathi, M., Uvarov, S., Verbus, J. R., de Viveiros, L., Walsh, N., Webb, R., White, J. T., Wlasenko, M., Wolfs, F. L. H., Woods, M., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, High Energy Physics - Experiment, High Energy Physics - Phenomenology, Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors
Abstract

We present the results of the three-month above-ground commissioning run of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment at the Sanford Underground Research Facility located in Lead, South Dakota, USA. LUX is a 370 kg liquid xenon detector that will search for cold dark matter in the form of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). The commissioning run, conducted with the detector immersed in a water tank, validated the integration of the various sub-systems in preparation of the underground deployment. Using the data collected, we report excellent light collection properties, achieving 8.4 photoelectrons per keV for 662 keV electron recoils without an applied electric field, measured in the center of the WIMP target. We also find good energy and position resolution in relatively high-energy interactions from a variety of internal and external sources. Finally, we have used the commissioning data to tune the optical properties of our simulation and report updated sensitivity projections for spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering.

Published
2012
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21. An Ultra-Low Background PMT for Liquid Xenon Detectors

Author

Akerib, D. S., Bai, X., Bernard, E., Bernstein, A., Bradley, A., Byram, D., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Carr, D., Chapman, J. J., Chan, Y-D., Clark, K., Coffey, T., deViveiros, L., Dragowsky, M., Druszkiewicz, E., Edwards, B., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gibson, K. R., Hall, C., Hanhardt, M., Holbrook, B., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Kastens, L., Kazkaz, K., Larsen, N., Lee, C., Lesko, K., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Lyashenko, A., Malling, D. C., Mannino, R., McKinsey, D., Mei, D., Mock, J., Morii, M., Nelson, H., Neves, F., Nikkel, J. A., Pangilinan, M., Pech, K., Phelps, P., Shutt, T., Silva, C., Skulski, W., Solovov, V. N., Sorensen, P., Spaans, J., Stiegler, T., Sweany, M., Szydagis, M., Taylor, D., Thomson, J., Tripathi, M., Uvarov, S., Verbus, J. R., Walsh, N., Webb, R., White, J. T., Wlasenko, M., Wolfs, F. L. H., Woods, M., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, High Energy Physics - Experiment
Abstract

Results are presented from radioactivity screening of two models of photomultiplier tubes designed for use in current and future liquid xenon experiments. The Hamamatsu 5.6 cm diameter R8778 PMT, used in the LUX dark matter experiment, has yielded a positive detection of four common radioactive isotopes: 238U, 232Th, 40K, and 60Co. Screening of LUX materials has rendered backgrounds from other detector materials subdominant to the R8778 contribution. A prototype Hamamatsu 7.6 cm diameter R11410 MOD PMT has also been screened, with benchmark isotope counts measured at <0.4 238U / <0.3 232Th / <8.3 40K / 2.0+-0.2 60Co mBq/PMT. This represents a large reduction, equal to a change of \times 1/24 238U / \times 1/9 232Th / \times 1/8 40K per PMT, between R8778 and R11410 MOD, concurrent with a doubling of the photocathode surface area (4.5 cm to 6.4 cm diameter). 60Co measurements are comparable between the PMTs, but can be significantly reduced in future R11410 MOD units through further material selection. Assuming PMT activity equal to the measured 90% upper limits, Monte Carlo estimates indicate that replacement of R8778 PMTs with R11410 MOD PMTs will change LUX PMT electron recoil background contributions by a factor of \times1/25 after further material selection for 60Co reduction, and nuclear recoil backgrounds by a factor of \times 1/36. The strong reduction in backgrounds below the measured R8778 levels makes the R11410 MOD a very competitive technology for use in large-scale liquid xenon detectors., Comment: v2 updated to include content after reviewer comments (Sep 2012)

Published
2012
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22. Radio-assay of Titanium samples for the LUX Experiment

Author

Akerib, D. S., Bai, X., Bedikian, S., Bernard, E., Bernstein, A., Bradley, A., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Carr, D., Chapman, J. J., Chan, Y-D., Clark, K., Classen, T., Coffey, T., Dazeley, S., deViveiros, L., Dragowsky, M., Druszkiewicz, E., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gibson, K. R., Hall, C., Hanhardt, M., Holbrook, B., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Kastens, L., Kazkaz, K., Lander, R., Larsen, N., Lee, C., Leonard, D., Lesko, K., Lyashenko, A., Malling, D. C., Mannino, R., McKinsey, D., Mei, D., Mock, J., Morii, M., Nelson, H., Nikkel, J. A., Pangilinan, M., Parker, P. D., Phelps, P., Shutt, T., Skulski, W., Sorensen, P., Spaans, J., Stiegler, T., Svoboda, R., Smith, A., Sweany, M., Szydagis, M., Thomson, J., Tripathi, M., Verbus, J. R., Walsh, N., Webb, R., White, J. T., Wlasenko, M., Wolfs, F. L. H., Woods, M., Uvarov, S., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors, High Energy Physics - Experiment
Abstract

We report on the screening of samples of titanium metal for their radio-purity. The screening process described in this work led to the selection of materials used in the construction of the cryostats for the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment. Our measurements establish titanium as a highly desirable material for low background experiments searching for rare events. The sample with the lowest total long-lived activity was measured to contain <0.25 mBq/kg of U-238, <0.2 mBq/kg of Th-232, and <1.2 mBq/kg of K-40. Measurements of several samples also indicated the presence of short-lived (84 day half life) Sc-46, likely produced cosmogenically via muon initiated (n,p) reactions., Comment: The LUX Collaboration

Published
2011

23. LUXSim: A Component-Centric Approach to Low-Background Simulations

Author

Akerib, D. S., Bai, X., Bedikian, S., Bernard, E., Bernstein, A., Bradley, A., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Carr, D., Chapman, J. J., Clark, K., Classen, T., Coffey, T., Dazeley, S., de Viveiros, L., Dragowsky, M., Druszkiewicz, E., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gibson, K. R., Hall, C., Hanhardt, M., Holbrook, B., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Kastens, L., Kazkaz, K., Lander, R., Larsen, N., Lee, C., Leonard, D., Lesko, K., Lyashenko, A., Malling, D. C., Mannino, R., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. -M, Mock, J., Morii, M., Nelson, H., Nikkel, J. A., Pangilinan, M., Parker, P. D., Phelps, P., Shutt, T., Skulski, W., Sorensen, P., Spaans, J., Stiegler, T., Svoboda, R., Sweany, M., Szydagis, M., Thomson, J., Tripathi, M., Verbus, J. R., Walsh, N., Webb, R., White, J. T., Wlasenko, M., Wolfs, F. L. H., Woods, M., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Physics - Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability, High Energy Physics - Experiment, Nuclear Experiment
Abstract

Geant4 has been used throughout the nuclear and high-energy physics community to simulate energy depositions in various detectors and materials. These simulations have mostly been run with a source beam outside the detector. In the case of low-background physics, however, a primary concern is the effect on the detector from radioactivity inherent in the detector parts themselves. From this standpoint, there is no single source or beam, but rather a collection of sources with potentially complicated spatial extent. LUXSim is a simulation framework used by the LUX collaboration that takes a component-centric approach to event generation and recording. A new set of classes allows for multiple radioactive sources to be set within any number of components at run time, with the entire collection of sources handled within a single simulation run. Various levels of information can also be recorded from the individual components, with these record levels also being set at runtime. This flexibility in both source generation and information recording is possible without the need to recompile, reducing the complexity of code management and the proliferation of versions. Within the code itself, casting geometry objects within this new set of classes rather than as the default Geant4 classes automatically extends this flexibility to every individual component. No additional work is required on the part of the developer, reducing development time and increasing confidence in the results. We describe the guiding principles behind LUXSim, detail some of its unique classes and methods, and give examples of usage. * Corresponding author, kareem@llnl.gov, Comment: 45 pages, 15 figures

Published
2011
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24. After LUX: The LZ Program

Author

Malling, D. C., Akerib, D. S., Araujo, H. M., Bai, X., Bedikian, S., Bernard, E., Bernstein, A., Bradley, A., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Carr, D., Chapman, J. J., Clark, K., Classen, T., Coffey, T., Curioni, A., Currie, A., Dazeley, S., de Viveiros, L., Dragowsky, M., Druszkiewicz, E., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gibson, K. R., Hall, C., Hanhardt, M., Holbrook, B., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Kastens, L., Kazkaz, K., Lander, R., Larsen, N., Lee, C., Leonard, D., Lesko, K., Lindote, A., Lopes, M. I., Lyashenko, A., Majewski, P., Mannino, R., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D. -M., Mock, J., Morii, M., Murphy, A. St J., Nelson, H., Neves, F., Nikkel, J. A., Pangilinan, M., Phelps, P., Reichhart, L., Shutt, T., Silva, C., Skulski, W., Solovov, V., Sorensen, P., Spaans, J., Stiegler, T., Sumner, T. J., Svoboda, R., Sweany, M., Szydagis, M., Thomson, J., Tripathi, M., Verbus, J. R., Walsh, N., Webb, R., White, J. T., Wlasenko, M., Wolfs, F. L. H., Woods, M., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Abstract

The LZ program consists of two stages of direct dark matter searches using liquid Xe detectors. The first stage will be a 1.5-3 tonne detector, while the last stage will be a 20 tonne detector. Both devices will benefit tremendously from research and development performed for the LUX experiment, a 350 kg liquid Xe dark matter detector currently operating at the Sanford Underground Laboratory. In particular, the technology used for cryogenics and electrical feedthroughs, circulation and purification, low-background materials and shielding techniques, electronics, calibrations, and automated control and recovery systems are all directly scalable from LUX to the LZ detectors. Extensive searches for potential background sources have been performed, with an emphasis on previously undiscovered background sources that may have a significant impact on tonne-scale detectors. The LZ detectors will probe spin-independent interaction cross sections as low as 5E-49 cm2 for 100 GeV WIMPs, which represents the ultimate limit for dark matter detection with liquid xenon technology., Comment: Conference proceedings from APS DPF 2011. 9 pages, 6 figures

Published
2011

25. Data Acquisition and Readout System for the LUX Dark Matter Experiment

Author

Akerib, D. S., Bai, X., Bedikian, S., Bernard, E., Bernstein, A., Bradley, A., Cahn, S. B., Carmona-Benitez, M. C., Carr, D., Chapman, J. J., Clark, K., Classen, T., Coffey, T., Curioni, A., Dazeley, S., deViveiros, L., Dragowsky, M., Druszkiewicz, E., Faham, C. H., Fiorucci, S., Gaitskell, R. J., Gibson, K. R., Hall, C., Hanhardt, M., Holbrook, B., Ihm, M., Jacobsen, R. G., Kastens, L., Kazkaz, K., Lander, R., Larsen, N., Lee, C., Leonard, D., Lesko, K., Lyashenko, A., Malling, D. C., Mannino, R., McKinsey, D. N., Mei, D., Mock, J., Morii, M., Nelson, H., Nikkel, J. A., Pangilinan, M., Phelps, P., Shutt, T., Skulski, W., Sorensen, P., Spaans, J., Stiegler, T., Svoboda, R., Sweany, M., Szydagis, M., Thomson, J., Tripathi, M., Verbus, J. R., Walsh, N., Webb, R., White, J. T., Wlasenko, M., Wolfs, F. L. H., Woods, M., and Zhang, C.

Subjects
Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Abstract

LUX is a two-phase (liquid/gas) xenon time projection chamber designed to detect nuclear recoils from interactions with dark matter particles. Signals from the LUX detector are processed by custom-built analog electronics which provide properly shaped signals for the trigger and data acquisition (DAQ) systems. The DAQ is comprised of commercial digitizers with firmware customized for the LUX experiment. Data acquisition systems in rare-event searches must accommodate high rate and large dynamic range during precision calibrations involving radioactive sources, while also delivering low threshold for maximum sensitivity. The LUX DAQ meets these challenges using real-time baseline sup- pression that allows for a maximum event acquisition rate in excess of 1.5 kHz with virtually no deadtime. This paper describes the LUX DAQ and the novel acquisition techniques employed in the LUX experiment.

Published
2011
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