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We report on an improved measurement of the 2νββ half-life of 136 Xe performed by EXO-200. The use of a large and homogeneous time projection chamber allows for the precise estimate of the fiducial mass used for the measurement, resulting in a small systematic uncertainty. We also discuss in detail the data analysis methods used for double-beta decay searches with EXO-200, while emphasizing those directly related to the present measurement. The 136 Xe 2νββ half-life is found to be T 2νββ 1/2 = 2.165 ± 0.016(stat) ± 0.059(sys) · 10 21 years. This is the most precisely measured half-life of any 2νββ decay to date.

is an experiment designed to search for double beta decay of 136 Xe with a single-phase, liquid xenon detector. It uses an active mass of 110 kg of xenon enriched to 80.6% in the isotope 136 in an ultra-low background time projection chamber capable of simultaneous detection of ionization and scintillation. This paper describes the EXO-200 detector with particular attention to the most innovative aspects of the design that revolve around the reduction of backgrounds, the efficient use of the expensive isotopically enriched xenon, and the optimization of the energy resolution in a relatively large volume.-1 -arXiv:1202.2192v2 [physics.ins-det]

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The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) has precisely determined the total active (ν x ) 8 B solar neutrino flux without assumptions about the energy dependence of the ν e survival probability. The measurements were made with dissolved NaCl in the heavy water to enhance the sensitivity and signature for neutral-current interactions. The flux is found to be 5.21 ± 0.27 (stat) ± 0.38 (syst) × 10 6 cm −2 s −1 , in agreement with previous measurements and standard solar models. A global analysis of these and other solar and reactor neutrino results yields ∆m 2 = 7.1 +1.2 −0.6 × 10 −5 eV 2 and θ = 32.5 +2. ES).Only electron neutrinos produce charged-current interactions (CC), while the neutral-current (NC) and elastic scattering (ES) reactions have sensitivity to non-electron flavors. The NC reaction measures the total flux of all active neutrino flavors above a threshold of 2.2 MeV. SNO previously measured the NC rate by observing neutron captures on deuterons, and found that a Standard-Model description with an undistorted 8 B neutrino spectrum and CC, ES, and NC rates due solely to ν e interactions was rejected [2, 3]. This Letter presents measurements of the CC, NC, and ES rates from SNO's dissolved salt phase.The addition of 2 tonnes of NaCl to the kilotonne of heavy water increased the neutron capture efficiency and the associated Cherenkov light. The solution was thoroughly mixed and