Flux measurement of fast neutrons in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory

Bruno, G.; Fulgione, W.

doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7247-9

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The production of neutrons by cosmic rays, while dominant in surface and shallow underground laboratories (32), is largely suppressed deep underground, thanks to the reduction of cosmic rays by the rocks overhead. Neutron flux measurements have been performed in different underground locations, with different detection techniques and capabilities, to obtain information on the neutron energy spectrum (33)(34)(35). The difference in neutron flux on the Earth's surface and deep underground can be several orders of magnitude [about 3 for thermal neutrons at LNGS (36)].…”

Section: 43mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Stars in Underground Laboratories: Challenges and Solutions

Aliotta

Boeltzig

Depalo

et al. 2022

Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci.

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For millennia, mankind has been fascinated by the marvel of the starry night sky. Yet, a proper scientific understanding of how stars form, shine, and die is a relatively recent achievement, made possible by the interplay of different disciplines as well as by significant technological, theoretical, and observational progress. We now know that stars are sustained by nuclear fusion reactions and are the furnaces where all chemical elements continue to be forged out of primordial hydrogen and helium. Studying these reactions in terrestrial laboratories presents serious challenges and often requires developing ingenious instrumentation and detection techniques. Here, we reveal how some of the major breakthroughs in our quest to unveil the inner workings of stars have come from the most unexpected of places: deep underground. As we celebrate 30 years of activity at the first underground laboratory for nuclear astrophysics, LUNA, we review some of the key milestones and anticipate future opportunities for further advances both at LUNA and at other underground laboratories worldwide. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science, Volume 72 is September 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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Section: 43mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Stars in Underground Laboratories: Challenges and Solutions

Aliotta

Boeltzig

Depalo

et al. 2022

Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci.

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“…The limited content of Uranium and Thorium in the dolomite rocks of the Gran Sasso mountain ensures a thousand times less radiogenic neutron flux than on the surface, in the order of 1-10 m −2 h −1 [90] up to 5 MeV, depending on the neutron energy. Faster muon-induced neutrons (>10 MeV) are generated in the cavern rock with a flux of ∼2.7 × 10 −2 m −2 h −1 [91,92].…”

Section: Lngs Underground Locationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Xenon Road to Direct Detection of Dark Matter at LNGS: The XENON Project

Gangi¹

2021

Universe

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Dark matter is a milestone in the understanding of the Universe and a portal to the discovery of new physics beyond the Standard Model of particles. The direct search for dark matter has become one of the most active fields of experimental physics in the last few decades. Liquid Xenon (LXe) detectors demonstrated the highest sensitivities to the main dark matter candidates (Weakly Interactive Massive Particles, WIMP). The experiments of the XENON project, located in the underground INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy, are leading the field thanks to the dual-phase LXe time projection chamber (TPC) technology. Since the first prototype XENON10 built in 2005, each detector of the XENON project achieved the highest sensitivity to WIMP dark matter. XENON increased the LXe target mass by nearly a factor 400, up to the 5.9 t of the current XENONnT detector installed at LNGS in 2020. Thanks to an unprecedentedly low background level, XENON1T (predecessor of XENONnT) set the world best limits on WIMP dark matter to date, for an overall boost of more than 3 orders of magnitude to the experimental sensitivity since the XENON project started. In this work, we review the principles of direct dark matter detection with LXe TPCs, the detectors of the XENON project, the challenges posed by background mitigation to ultra-low levels, and the main results achieved by the XENON project in the search for dark matter.

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“…Indeed, as thoroughly discussed in a recent study performed by Bruno et al [11], a number of equations are available in the literature for the calculation of R c and E c , see e.g. Bugg [12] and Tenner [13], to name a few.…”

Section: S Hmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effective exploitation of a geyser bubble-chamber equipment as a background-free fast neutron detector

et al. 2021

Self Cite

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The MOSCAB equipment, a geyser-concept bubble-chamber originally thought for the search of dark matter in the form of WIMPs, is employed for the detection of fast neutrons. Once the background-free operating conditions are determined such that the detector is sensitive only to neutrons, which occurs when the neutron energy threshold required for nucleation is higher than approximately 2.5 MeV, the detector response to fast neutrons is investigated using a $${^{241}}$$ 241 AmBe neutron source. Sets of detection efficiency functions are then produced via Monte Carlo simulations and post-processing, their validation being performed experimentally and discussed. Finally, the use of the detector to measure the fast neutron activity of very weak n-sources in low neutron background environments, as well as to monitor the cosmic ray variations through the neutron component of the Extensive Air Showers, is considered.

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Flux measurement of fast neutrons in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory

Cited by 8 publications

References 20 publications

Exploring Stars in Underground Laboratories: Challenges and Solutions

Exploring Stars in Underground Laboratories: Challenges and Solutions

The Xenon Road to Direct Detection of Dark Matter at LNGS: The XENON Project

Effective exploitation of a geyser bubble-chamber equipment as a background-free fast neutron detector

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