J. B. Albert

Observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering

A 14.6-kilogram sodium-doped CsI scintillator is used to detect a neutrino scattering process with a 6.7σ confidence level. Nailing down an elusive process Detecting neutrinos—elementary particles that barely interact with other matter—usually requires detectors of enormous size. A particular interaction of neutrinos with atomic nuclei, called the coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS), is predicted to occur with relatively high probability, and it could be used to drastically reduce the size of neutrino detectors. However, observing this interaction requires a source of low-energy neutrinos and detectors that contain nuclei of optimal mass. Akimov et al. observed CEνNS with a 6.7σ confidence by using a comparatively tiny, 14.6-kg sodium-doped CsI scintillator exposed to neutrinos from a spallation neutron facility (see the Perspective by Link). The discovery places tighter bounds on exotic, beyond-the-standard-model interactions involving neutrinos. Science, this issue p. 1123; see also p. 1098 The coherent elastic scattering of neutrinos off nuclei has eluded detection for four decades, even though its predicted cross section is by far the largest of all low-energy neutrino couplings. This mode of interaction offers new opportunities to study neutrino properties and leads to a miniaturization of detector size, with potential technological applications. We observed this process at a 6.7σ confidence level, using a low-background, 14.6-kilogram CsI[Na] scintillator exposed to the neutrino emissions from the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Characteristic signatures in energy and time, predicted by the standard model for this process, were observed in high signal-to-background conditions. Improved constraints on nonstandard neutrino interactions with quarks are derived from this initial data set.

Improved measurement of the 2νββ half-life of ^(136)Xe with the EXO-200 detector

We report on an improved measurement of the 2nu beta beta half-life of Xe-136 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 Xe-136 2nu beta beta half-life is found to be 2.165 +- 0.016 (stat) +- 0.059 (sys) x 10^21 years. This is the most precisely measured half-life of any 2nu beta beta decay to date.

Search for Majoron-emitting modes of double-beta decay of ^(136)Xe with EXO-200

EXO-200 is a single phase liquid xenon detector designed to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of ^(136)Xe. Here, we report on a search for various Majoron-emitting modes based on 100 kg yr exposure of ^(136)Xe. A lower limit of T^(136)Xe_(1/2) > 1.2 × 10^(24)u2009u2009yr at 90% C.L. on the half-life of the spectral index=1 Majoron decay was obtained, corresponding to a constraint on the Majoron-neutrino coupling constant of |⟨g^(M)_(ee)⟩| < (0.8–1.7) × 10^(−5).

Search for Proton Decay via

We have searched for proton decay via p→νK+ using Super-Kamiokande data from April 1996 to February 2013, 260 kiloton•year exposure in total. No evidence for this proton decay mode is found. A lower limit of the proton lifetime is set to τ/B(p→νK+)>5.9×1033 years at 90% confidence level.

p \rightarrow \nu K^{+}

We report on an improved measurement of the 2nu beta beta half-life of Xe-136 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 Xe-136 2nu beta beta half-life is found to be 2.165 +- 0.016 (stat) +- 0.059 (sys) x 10^21 years. This is the most precisely measured half-life of any 2nu beta beta decay to date.

using 260 kiloton

An RF ion-funnel technique has been developed to extract ions from a high-pressure (10 bar) noble-gas environment into a vacuum (10(-6) mbar). Detailed simulations have been performed and a prototype has been developed for the purpose of extracting Ba-136 ions from Xe gas with high efficiency. With this prototype, ions have been extracted for the first time from high-pressure xenon gas and argon gas. Systematic studies have been carried out and compared to simulations. This demonstration of extraction of ions, with mass comparable to that of the gas generating the high-pressure, has applications to Ba tagging from a Xe-gas time-projection chamber for double-beta decay, as well as to the general problem of recovering trace amounts of an ionized element in a heavy (m > 40 u) carrier gas

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Progress on a method of barium tagging for the nEXO double beta decay experiment is reported. Absorption and emission spectra for deposits of barium atoms and ions in solid xenon matrices are presented. Excitation spectra for prominent emission lines, temperature dependence, and bleaching of the fluorescence reveal the existence of different matrix sites. A regular series of sharp lines observed in

year data of Super-Kamiokande

{mathrm{Ba}}^{+}

An improved measurement of the 2\nu \beta \beta\ half-life of Xe-136 with EXO-200

deposits is identified with some type of barium hydride molecule. Lower limits for the fluorescence quantum efficiency of the principal Ba emission transition are reported. Under current conditions, an image of fewer than or equal to

An RF-only ion-funnel for extraction from high-pressure gases

{10}^{4}