Search for two-neutrino double electron capture of $^{124}Xe$ with XENON100

XENON Collaboration; Baudis, Laura; Brown, Adam; Capelli, Chiara; Galloway, Michelle; Kazama, Shingo; Kish, Alexander; Piastra, Francesco; Reichard, Shayne; Wulf, Julien; et al (2017). Search for two-neutrino double electron capture of $^{124}Xe$ with XENON100. Physical review. C, C95(2):024605.

Abstract

Two-neutrino double electron capture is a rare nuclear decay where two electrons are simultaneously captured from the atomic shell. For $^{124}Xe$ this process has not yet been observed and its detection would provide a new reference for nuclear matrix element calculations. We have conducted a search for two-neutrino double electron capture from the K shell of $^{124}Xe$ using 7636 kgd of data from the XENON100 dark matter detector. Using a Bayesian analysis we observed no significant excess above background, leading to a lower 90% credibility limit on the half-life $T_{1/2}>6.5×10^{20}$ yr. We have also evaluated the sensitivity of the XENON1T experiment, which is currently being commissioned, and found a sensitivity of $T_{1/2}>6.1×10^{22}$ yr after an exposure of 2 t yr.

Abstract

Two-neutrino double electron capture is a rare nuclear decay where two electrons are simultaneously captured from the atomic shell. For $^{124}Xe$ this process has not yet been observed and its detection would provide a new reference for nuclear matrix element calculations. We have conducted a search for two-neutrino double electron capture from the K shell of $^{124}Xe$ using 7636 kgd of data from the XENON100 dark matter detector. Using a Bayesian analysis we observed no significant excess above background, leading to a lower 90% credibility limit on the half-life $T_{1/2}>6.5×10^{20}$ yr. We have also evaluated the sensitivity of the XENON1T experiment, which is currently being commissioned, and found a sensitivity of $T_{1/2}>6.1×10^{22}$ yr after an exposure of 2 t yr.

Statistics

Citations

Dimensions.ai Metrics
3 citations in Web of Science®
2 citations in Scopus®