Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2016 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics
Volume 61, Number 13
Thursday–Sunday, October 13–16, 2016; Vancouver, BC, Canada
Session FD: Mini-symposium on Opportunities in Underground Nuclear Physics: IIMini-Symposium
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Chair: Jelena Maricic, University of Hawaii at Manoa Room: Junior Ballroom C |
Friday, October 14, 2016 4:00PM - 4:12PM |
FD.00001: Results and Status of EXO-200 Tim Daniels, Lisa Kaufman EXO-200 has provided one of the most sensitive searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay utilizing 175\,kg of enriched liquid xenon in an ultra-low background time projection chamber. This detector has demonstrated excellent energy resolution and background rejection capabilities. Using the first two years of data, EXO-200 has set a limit of $1.1\times10^{25}$\,y at 90\% C.L. on the neutrinoless double-beta decay half-life of Xe$^{136}$. The experiment has experienced a brief hiatus in data taking during a temporary shutdown of its host facility: the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. EXO-200 has resumed data taking in earnest with upgraded detector electronics. Results from the analysis of EXO-200 data and an update on the current status of EXO-200 will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 14, 2016 4:12PM - 4:24PM |
FD.00002: The Majorana Demonstrator Low-Energy Rare Event Search Clinton Wiseman The extremely low backgrounds of the \textsc{Majorana Demonstrator} neutrinoless double beta decay experiment, combined with the excellent energy resolution of its high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors, provide an opportunity for a dark matter search at low energy ($<$100 keV). The \textsc{Demonstrator} is in the final stages of construction at the 4850-ft. level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, SD. The first detector module, consisting of 16.8 kg of HPGe enriched to 88\% $^{76}$Ge and 5.7 kg of natural HPGe, took 100.6 live days of commissioning data before going blind on April 14th, 2016, and the second module is nearing completion at the time of this writing. The enriched detectors have particularly low levels of cosmogenic activation from their specialized manufacturing process. These ultra-low background designs are suited to rare event searches at low energies, including light WIMPs ($<$10 GeV/c$^2$) and solar axions. In this talk an update of the \textsc{Majorana} low-energy research program will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 14, 2016 4:24PM - 4:36PM |
FD.00003: CUORE-0 Measurement of 2$\nu \beta \beta $ decay Christopher Davis The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is a neutrinoless double-beta (0$\nu \beta \beta )$ decay experiment currently under construction at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS). CUORE will perform this search in $^{\mathrm{130}}$Te by using 988 TeO$_{\mathrm{2}}$ bolometric crystals arranged in 19 towers inside of a cryostat operating at 10 mK. The first phase of CUORE, CUORE-0, took data at LNGS (Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso) during the period from March 2013 to March 2015 using a single CUORE-like tower. In this talk, I will present the results from the CUORE-0 experiment for the two-neutrino double-beta (2$\nu \beta \beta )$ decay measurement of $^{\mathrm{130}}$Te as well as the background model used to determine this result. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 14, 2016 4:36PM - 4:48PM |
FD.00004: Search for WIMP-Induced Annual Modulation with the CUORE-0 Experiment Kyungeun Lim CUORE-0 was a cryogenic detector that uses an array of tellurium dioxide bolometers with the primary physics goal of searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay of Te-130. CUORE-0 was assembled using new low-background techniques developed for CUORE, which will consist of 19 CUORE-0-like arrays. The first results on the search for neutrinoless double-beta decay with CUORE-0 combined with Cuoricinio, a predecessor to CUORE-0, set the most stringent limit on the half-life of Te-130. Successful background mitigation, along with continuous data acquisition make CUORE-0 also suitable for other low-energy, rare event searches such as dark matter. In this talk, I will present the status and results of the low-energy analysis of CUORE-0. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 14, 2016 4:48PM - 5:00PM |
FD.00005: Low Background Counting with the Berkeley Low Background Facility and the Black Hills State University Underground Campus at SURF Alan Poon, Keenan Thomas, Brianna Mount, Kevin Lesko, Alan Smith, Eric Norman, Yuen-Dat Chan The Berkeley Low Background Facility provides a variety of low background gamma spectroscopy services to a variety of projects and experiments. It operates HPGe spectrometers in two unique facilities: a surface low background lab at LBNL and 4,850 feet underground (4300 m.w.e.) at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, SD in a dedicated cleanroom at the Black Hills State University Underground Campus (BHUC). A large component of the measurements performed by the BLBF are for ultralow background experiments concerned with U, Th, K, and other radioisotopes within candidate construction materials to be used to construct sensitive detectors. Experiments utilizing these needs often include those studying dark matter, neutrinos, or neutrinoless double beta decay. A general overview of the services and facilities will be presented. The BHUC will ultimately host several HPGe low background counting stations and other sensitive instruments from several incoming low background groups and projects that will operate in a coordinated manner to provide low background measurements to the scientific community. An overview and description of the BHUC facility, status, and future plans will also be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 14, 2016 5:00PM - 5:12PM |
FD.00006: Cosmogenic Induced Background Estimation for the M{\small AJORANA} D{\small EMONSTRATOR} Experiment Brandon White Neutrino-less double beta (0$\nu$$\beta$$\beta$) decay experiments probe for such rare events that the suppression and understanding of backgrounds are major experimental concerns. Cosmogenic induced isotopes have the potential to be a major background for such experiments. For the M{\small AJORANA} D{\small EMONSTRATOR} Experiment $^{76}$Ge isotope is used as both detector and source and pure electroformed copper is primarily used for detector housing. The isotopes $^{68}$Ge and $^{60}$Co are cosmogenically produced when the Germanium and Copper components are near Earth's surface. The decay of these isotopes can mimic events in the region of interest. The experiment is located at the 4850 foot level at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota to suppress cosmogenic activation. In this talk I will present the calculations of cosmogenic backgrounds for the enriched $^{76}$Ge and electroformed Copper materials used in the M{\small AJORANA} D{\small EMONSTRATOR}. The activation is determined by the surface exposure time of materials. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 14, 2016 5:12PM - 5:24PM |
FD.00007: Production of the neutron-induced isotope, $^{73}$Ga, at the Davis Campus of the Sanford Underground Research Facility with the M{\small AJORANA} D{\small EMONSTRATOR} Pinghan Chu We report a study of the production of the neutron-induced isotope, $^{73}$Ga, in the M{\scriptsize AJORANA} D{\scriptsize EMONSTRATOR} array at the underground Davis Campus of the Sanford Underground Research Facility 4850 ft level. This isotope has a half-life time of 4.86 hours and can be generated through interactions between fast neutrons and germanium isotopes. Using its unique decay signature, we have identified three candidate events of $^{73}$Ga in the commissioning data of M{\scriptsize AJORANA} D{\scriptsize EMONSTRATOR}. Based on these three events, we estimate the corresponding neutron energy spectrum and the radioactive background generated by neutron-induced isotopes. The background from neutron-induced isotopes has been also calculated in the Region of Interest for $^{76}$Ge neutrinoless double beta decays. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, the Particle Astrophysics Program of the National Science Foundation, and the Sanford Underground Research Facility. We acknowledge the support of the U.S. Department of Energy through the LANL/LDRD Program. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 14, 2016 5:24PM - 5:36PM |
FD.00008: ($\alpha $, $\gamma )$ reaction induced background events for rare event experiments Ashok Tiwari, Chao Zhang, Dongming Mei We report an observation of ($\alpha $, $\gamma )$ reaction at the Soudan mine. With a 12-Liter scintillation neutron detector at Soudan mine for about 5 years of data taking, we have observed ($\alpha $, $\gamma )$ reaction, which can generate potential background events for dark matter and neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments. We have simulated the alpha flux from radon decay using the measured radon concentration in Soudan mine. The convolution of the alpha flux and the cross-section of ($\alpha $, $\gamma )$ allows us to determine the rate of high energy gamma from ($\alpha $, $\gamma )$ reaction. This rate is compared to the measured event rate. We demonstrate that the modulation of ($\alpha $, $\gamma )$ event rate has similar pattern as the radon modulation observed independently in Soudan mine. [Preview Abstract] |
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