Measurement of the two-neutrino double--decay half-life via direct background subtraction in NEXT
Physical Review C, 2022•APS
We report a measurement of the half-life of the Xe 136 two-neutrino double-β decay
performed with a novel direct-background-subtraction technique. The analysis relies on the
data collected with the NEXT-White detector operated with Xe 136-enriched and Xe 136-
depleted xenon, as well as on the topology of double-electron tracks. With a fiducial mass of
only 3.5 kg of Xe, a half-life of 2. 34− 0.46+ 0.80 (stat)− 0.17+ 0.30 (sys)× 10 21 yr is derived
from the background-subtracted energy spectrum. The presented technique demonstrates …
performed with a novel direct-background-subtraction technique. The analysis relies on the
data collected with the NEXT-White detector operated with Xe 136-enriched and Xe 136-
depleted xenon, as well as on the topology of double-electron tracks. With a fiducial mass of
only 3.5 kg of Xe, a half-life of 2. 34− 0.46+ 0.80 (stat)− 0.17+ 0.30 (sys)× 10 21 yr is derived
from the background-subtracted energy spectrum. The presented technique demonstrates …
We report a measurement of the half-life of the two-neutrino double- decay performed with a novel direct-background-subtraction technique. The analysis relies on the data collected with the NEXT-White detector operated with -enriched and -depleted xenon, as well as on the topology of double-electron tracks. With a fiducial mass of only 3.5 kg of Xe, a half-life of is derived from the background-subtracted energy spectrum. The presented technique demonstrates the feasibility of unique background-model-independent neutrinoless double--decay searches.
American Physical Society