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Searching for $^{76}$Ge neutrinoless double beta decay with the CDEX-1B experiment
Authors:
B. T. Zhang,
J. Z. Wang,
L. T. Yang,
Q. Yue,
K. J. Kang,
Y. J. Li,
H. P. An,
Greeshma C.,
J. P. Chang,
Y. H. Chen,
J. P. Cheng,
W. H. Dai,
Z. Deng,
C. H. Fang,
X. P. Geng,
H. Gong,
Q. J. Guo,
X. Y. Guo,
L. He,
S. M. He,
J. W. Hu,
H. X. Huang,
T. C. Huang,
H. T. Jia,
X. Jiang
, et al. (60 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We operated a p-type point contact high purity germanium (PPCGe) detector (CDEX-1B, 1.008 kg) in the China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL) for 500.3 days to search for neutrinoless double beta ($0νββ$) decay of $^{76}$Ge. A total of 504.3 kg$\cdot$day effective exposure data was accumulated. The anti-coincidence and the multi/single-site event (MSE/SSE) discrimination methods were used to su…
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We operated a p-type point contact high purity germanium (PPCGe) detector (CDEX-1B, 1.008 kg) in the China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL) for 500.3 days to search for neutrinoless double beta ($0νββ$) decay of $^{76}$Ge. A total of 504.3 kg$\cdot$day effective exposure data was accumulated. The anti-coincidence and the multi/single-site event (MSE/SSE) discrimination methods were used to suppress the background in the energy region of interest (ROI, 1989$-$2089 keV for this work) with a factor of 23. A background level of 0.33 counts/(keV$\cdot$kg$\cdot$yr) was realized. The lower limit on the half life of $^{76}$Ge $0νββ$ decay was constrained as $T_{1/2}^{0ν}\ > \ {1.0}\times 10^{23}\ \rm yr\ (90\% \ C.L.)$, corresponding to the upper limits on the effective Majorana neutrino mass: $\langle m_{ββ}\rangle < $3.2$-$7.5$\ \mathrm{eV}$.
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Submitted 22 September, 2024; v1 submitted 1 May, 2023;
originally announced May 2023.
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Deep underground laboratory measurement of $^{13}$C($α$,$n$)$^{16}$O in the Gamow windows of the $s$- and $i$-processes
Authors:
B. Gao,
T. Y. Jiao,
Y. T. Li,
H. Chen,
W. P. Lin,
Z. An,
L. H. Ru,
Z. C. Zhang,
X. D. Tang,
X. Y. Wang,
N. T. Zhang,
X. Fang,
D. H. Xie,
Y. H. Fan,
L. Ma,
X. Zhang,
F. Bai,
P. Wang,
Y. X. Fan,
G. Liu,
H. X. Huang,
Q. Wu,
Y. B. Zhu,
J. L. Chai,
J. Q. Li
, et al. (50 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The $^{13}$C($α$,$n$)$^{16}$O reaction is the main neutron source for the slow-neutron-capture (s-) process in Asymptotic Giant Branch stars and for the intermediate (i-) process. Direct measurements at astrophysical energies in above-ground laboratories are hindered by the extremely small cross sections and vast cosmic-ray induced background. We performed the first consistent direct measurement i…
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The $^{13}$C($α$,$n$)$^{16}$O reaction is the main neutron source for the slow-neutron-capture (s-) process in Asymptotic Giant Branch stars and for the intermediate (i-) process. Direct measurements at astrophysical energies in above-ground laboratories are hindered by the extremely small cross sections and vast cosmic-ray induced background. We performed the first consistent direct measurement in the range of $E_{\rm c.m.}=$0.24 MeV to 1.9 MeV using the accelerators at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL) and Sichuan University. Our measurement covers almost the entire i-process Gamow window in which the large uncertainty of the previous experiments has been reduced from 60\% down to 15\%, eliminates the large systematic uncertainty in the extrapolation arising from the inconsistency of existing data sets, and provides a more reliable reaction rate for the studies of the s- and i-processes along with the first direct determination of the alpha strength for the near-threshold state.
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Submitted 6 October, 2022;
originally announced October 2022.
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Search for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay of $^{76}$Ge with a Natural Broad Energy Germanium Detector
Authors:
CDEX collaboration,
W. H. Dai,
H. Ma,
Q. Yue,
Z. She,
K. J. Kang,
Y. J. Li,
M. Agartioglu,
H. P. An,
J. P. Chang,
Y. H. Chen,
J. P. Cheng,
Z. Deng,
C. H. Fang,
X. P. Geng,
H. Gong,
Q. J. Guo,
X. Y. Guo,
L. He,
S. M. He,
J. W. Hu,
H. X. Huang,
T. C. Huang,
H. T. Jia,
X. Jiang
, et al. (61 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
A natural broad energy germanium (BEGe) detector is operated in the China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL) for a feasibility study of building the next generation experiment of the neutrinoless double-beta (0{$νββ$}) decay of $^{76}$Ge. The setup of the prototype facility, characteristics of the BEGe detector, background reduction methods, and data analysis are described in this paper. A back…
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A natural broad energy germanium (BEGe) detector is operated in the China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL) for a feasibility study of building the next generation experiment of the neutrinoless double-beta (0{$νββ$}) decay of $^{76}$Ge. The setup of the prototype facility, characteristics of the BEGe detector, background reduction methods, and data analysis are described in this paper. A background index of 6.4$\times$10$^{-3}$ counts/(keV$\cdot$kg$\cdot$day) is achieved and 1.86 times lower than our previous result of the CDEX-1 detector. No signal is observed with an exposure of 186.4 kg$\cdot$day, thus a limit on the half life of $^{76}$Ge 0$νββ$ decay is set at T$_{1/2}^{0ν}$ $>$ 5.62$\times$10$^{22}$ yr at 90% C.L.. The limit corresponds to an effective Majorana neutrino mass in the range of 4.6 $\sim$ 10.3 eV, dependent on the nuclear matrix elements.
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Submitted 5 August, 2022; v1 submitted 21 May, 2022;
originally announced May 2022.