We present the first measurement of nuclear recoils from solar 8 B neutrinos via coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering with the XENONnT dark matter experiment. The central detector of XENONnT is a low-background, two-phase time projection chamber with a 5.9 t sensitive liquid xenon target. A blind analysis with an exposure of 3.51 t×y resulted in 37 observed events above 0.5 keV, with (26.4 +1.4 −1.3 ) events expected from backgrounds. The background-only hypothesis is rejected with a statistical significance of 2.73 σ. The measured 8 B solar neutrino flux of (4.7 +3.6 −2.3 ) × 10 6 cm −2 s −1 is consistent with results from dedicated solar neutrino experiments. The measured neutrino flux-weighted CEνNS cross-section on Xe of (1.1 +0.8 −0.5 ) × 10 −39 cm 2 is consistent with the Standard Model prediction. This is the first direct measurement of nuclear recoils from solar neutrinos with a dark matter detector.
The Majorana Collaboration is operating an array of high purity Ge detectors to search for neutrinoless double-β decay in ^{76}Ge. The Majorana Demonstrator comprises 44.1 kg of Ge detectors (29.7 kg enriched in ^{76}Ge) split between two modules contained in a low background shield at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. Here we present results from data taken during construction, commissioning, and the start of full operations. We achieve unprecedented energy resolution of 2.5 keV FWHM at Q_{ββ} and a very low background with no observed candidate events in 9.95 kg yr of enriched Ge exposure, resulting in a lower limit on the half-life of 1.9×10^{25} yr (90% C.L.). This result constrains the effective Majorana neutrino mass to below 240-520 meV, depending on the matrix elements used. In our experimental configuration with the lowest background, the background is 4.0_{-2.5}^{+3.1} counts/(FWHM t yr).
We report the observation of two-neutrino double-beta decay in (136)Xe with T(1/2) = 2.11 ± 0.04(stat) ± 0.21(syst) × 10(21) yr. This second-order process, predicted by the standard model, has been observed for several nuclei but not for (136)Xe. The observed decay rate provides new input to matrix element calculations and to the search for the more interesting neutrinoless double-beta decay, the most sensitive probe for the existence of Majorana particles and the measurement of the neutrino mass scale.
The Majorana Collaboration is operating an array of high purity Ge detectors to search for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of 76 Ge. The Majorana Demonstrator consists of 44.1 kg of Ge detectors (29.7 kg enriched to 88% in 76 Ge) split between two modules constructed from ultra-clean materials. Both modules are contained in a low-background shield at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. We present updated results on the search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in 76 Ge with 26.0 ± 0.5 kg-yr of enriched exposure. With the Demonstrator's unprecedented energy resolution of 2.53 keV FWHM at Q ββ , we observe one event in the region of interest with 0.65 events expected from the estimated background, resulting in a lower limit on the 76 Ge neutrinoless double-beta decay half-life of 2.7 × 10 25 yr (90% CL) with a median sensitivity of 4.8 × 10 25 yr (90% CL). Depending on the matrix elements used, a 90% CL upper limit on the effective Majorana neutrino mass in the range of 200-433 meV is obtained. The measured background in the low-background configurations is 11.9 ± 2.0 counts/(FWHM t yr).
The MajoranaDemonstratorwill search for the neutrinoless double-beta(ββ0ν)decay of the isotopeGe with a mixed array of enriched and natural germanium detectors. The observation of this rare decay would indicate that the neutrino is its own antiparticle, demonstrate that lepton number is not conserved, and provide information on the absolute mass scale of the neutrino. The Demonstratoris being assembled at the 4850-foot level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. The array will be situated in a low-background environment and surrounded by passive and active shielding. Here we describe the science goals of the Demonstratorand the details of its design.
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