0000000000086263
AUTHOR
Jean-pierre Cussonneau
showing 22 related works from this author
Excess electronic recoil events in XENON1T
2020
We report results from searches for new physics with low-energy electronic recoil data recorded with the XENON1T detector. With an exposure of 0.65 t-y and an unprecedentedly low background rate of $76\pm2$ events/(t y keV) between 1 and 30 keV, the data enables sensitive searches for solar axions, an enhanced neutrino magnetic moment, and bosonic dark matter. An excess over known backgrounds is observed at low energies and most prominent between 2 and 3 keV. The solar axion model has a 3.4$\sigma$ significance, and a 3D 90% confidence surface is reported for axion couplings to electrons, photons, and nucleons. This surface is inscribed in the cuboid defined by $g_{ae}<3.8 \times 10^{-12}$,…
Physics reach of the XENON1T dark matter experiment.
2016
The XENON1T experiment is currently in the commissioning phase at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. In this article we study the experiment's expected sensitivity to the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon interaction cross section, based on Monte Carlo predictions of the electronic and nuclear recoil backgrounds. The total electronic recoil background in $1$ tonne fiducial volume and ($1$, $12$) keV electronic recoil equivalent energy region, before applying any selection to discriminate between electronic and nuclear recoils, is $(1.80 \pm 0.15) \cdot 10^{-4}$ ($\rm{kg} \cdot day \cdot keV)^{-1}$, mainly due to the decay of $^{222}\rm{Rn}$ daughters inside the xenon target. The nu…
Conceptual design and simulation of a water Cherenkov muon veto for the XENON1T experiment
2014
XENON is a direct detection dark matter project, consisting of a time projection chamber (TPC) that uses xenon in double phase as a sensitive detection medium. XENON100, located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy, is one of the most sensitive experiments of its field. During the operation of XENON100, the design and construction of the next generation detector (of ton-scale mass) of the XENON project, XENON1T, is taking place. XENON1T is being installed at LNGS as well. It has the goal to reduce the background by two orders of magnitude compared to XENON100, aiming at a sensitivity of $2 \cdot 10^{-47} \mathrm{cm}^{\mathrm{2}}$ for a WIMP mass of 50 GeV/c$^{2}$. With…
Search for Coherent Elastic Scattering of Solar B8 Neutrinos in the XENON1T Dark Matter Experiment
2021
We report on a search for nuclear recoil signals from solar $^8$B neutrinos elastically scattering off xenon nuclei in XENON1T data, lowering the energy threshold from 2.6 keV to 1.6 keV. We develop a variety of novel techniques to limit the resulting increase in backgrounds near the threshold. No significant $^8$B neutrino-like excess is found in an exposure of 0.6 t $\times$ y. For the first time, we use the non-detection of solar neutrinos to constrain the light yield from 1-2 keV nuclear recoils in liquid xenon, as well as non-standard neutrino-quark interactions. Finally, we improve upon world-leading constraints on dark matter-nucleus interactions for dark matter masses between 3 GeV/…
The neutron background of the XENON100 dark matter search experiment
2013
TheXENON100 experiment, installed underground at the LaboratoriNazionali del Gran Sasso, aims to directly detect dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) via their elastic scattering off xenon nuclei. This paper presents a study on the nuclear recoil background of the experiment, taking into account neutron backgrounds from (alpha, n) reactions and spontaneous fission due to natural radioactivity in the detector and shield materials, as well as muon-induced neutrons. Based on MonteCarlo simulations and using measured radioactive contaminations of all detector components, we predict the nuclear recoil backgrounds for the WIMP search results published by theXENO…
Search for inelastic scattering of WIMP dark matter in XENON1T
2021
We report the results of a search for the inelastic scattering of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) in the XENON1T dark matter experiment. Scattering off $^{129}$Xe is the most sensitive probe of inelastic WIMP interactions, with a signature of a 39.6 keV de-excitation photon detected simultaneously with the nuclear recoil. Using an exposure of 0.89 tonne-years, we find no evidence of inelastic WIMP scattering with a significance of more than 2$\sigma$. A profile-likelihood ratio analysis is used to set upper limits on the cross-section of WIMP-nucleus interactions. We exclude new parameter space for WIMPs heavier than 100 GeV/c${}^2$, with the strongest upper limit of $3.3 \time…
Limits on spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross sections from 225 live days of XENON100 data
2013
We present new experimental constraints on the elastic, spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross section using recent data from the XENON100 experiment, operated in the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. An analysis of 224.6 live days x 34 kg of exposure acquired during 2011 and 2012 revealed no excess signal due to axial-vector WIMP interactions with 129-Xe and 131-Xe nuclei. This leads to the most stringent upper limits on WIMP-neutron cross sections for WIMP masses above 6 GeV, with a minimum cross section of 3.5 x 10^{-40} cm^2 at a WIMP mass of 45 GeV, at 90% confidence level.
Alignment of the ALICE Inner Tracking System with cosmic-ray tracks
2010
ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiment devoted to investigating the strongly interacting matter created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The ALICE ITS, Inner Tracking System, consists of six cylindrical layers of silicon detectors with three different technologies; in the outward direction: two layers of pixel detectors, two layers each of drift, and strip detectors. The number of parameters to be determined in the spatial alignment of the 2198 sensor modules of the ITS is about 13,000. The target alignment precision is well below 10 micron in some cases (pixels). The sources of alignment information include survey measurement…
Light Dark Matter Search with Ionization Signals in XENON1T
2019
We report constraints on light dark matter (DM) models using ionization signals in the XENON1T experiment. We mitigate backgrounds with strong event selections, rather than requiring a scintillation signal, leaving an effective exposure of (22±3) tonne day. Above ∼0.4 keVee, we observe <1 event/(tonne day keVee), which is more than 1000 times lower than in similar searches with other detectors. Despite observing a higher rate at lower energies, no DM or CEvNS detection may be claimed because we cannot model all of our backgrounds. We thus exclude new regions in the parameter spaces for DM-nucleus scattering for DM masses mχ within 3–6 GeV/c2, DM-electron scattering for mχ>30 MeV/c2, a…
Observation and applications of single-electron charge signals in the XENON100 experiment
2014
The XENON100 dark matter experiment uses liquid xenon in a time projection chamber (TPC) to measure xenon nuclear recoils resulting from the scattering of dark matter Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). In this paper, we report the observation of single-electron charge signals which are not related to WIMP interactions. These signals, which show the excellent sensitivity of the detector to small charge signals, are explained as being due to the photoionization of impurities in the liquid xenon and of the metal components inside the TPC. They are used as a unique calibration source to characterize the detector. We explain how we can infer crucial parameters for the XENON100 experim…
XENON1T Dark Matter Data Analysis: Signal Reconstruction, Calibration and Event Selection
2019
The XENON1T experiment at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso is the most sensitive direct detection experiment for dark matter in the form of weakly interacting particles (WIMPs) with masses above $6\,$GeV/$c^2$ scattering off nuclei. The detector employs a dual-phase time projection chamber with 2.0 metric tons of liquid xenon in the target. A one metric $\mathrm{ton}\times\mathrm{year}$ exposure of science data was collected between October 2016 and February 2018. This article reports on the performance of the detector during this period and describes details of the data analysis that led to the most stringent exclusion limits on various WIMP-nucleon interaction models to date. In pa…
Direct photon production ind+Au collisions atsNN=200GeV
2013
Direct photons have been measured in root s(NN) = 200 GeV d + Au collisions at midrapidity. A wide p(T) range is covered by measurements of nearly real virtual photons (1 < p(T) < 6 GeV/c) and real photons (5 < p(T) < 16 GeV/c). The invariant yield of the direct photons in d + Au collisions over the scaled p + p cross section is consistent with unity. Theoretical calculations assuming standard cold-nuclear-matter effects describe the data well for the entire p(T) range. This indicates that the large enhancement of direct photons observed in Au + Au collisions for 1.0 < p(T) < 2.5 GeV/c is attributable to a source other than the initial-state nuclear effects.
Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations inppcollisions ats=900 GeV
2010
We report on the measurement of two-pion correlation functions from pp collisions at root s = 900 GeV performed by the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Our analysis shows an increase of the Hanbury Brown-Twiss radius with increasing event multiplicity, in line with other measurements done in particle- and nuclear collisions. Conversely, the strong decrease of the radius with increasing transverse momentum, as observed at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and at Tevatron, is not manifest in our data.
Dark matter results from 225 live days of XENON100 data
2012
We report on a search for particle dark matter with the XENON100 experiment, operated at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) for 13 months during 2011 and 2012. XENON100 features an ultra-low electromagnetic background of (5.3 \pm 0.6) \times 10^-3 events (kg day keVee)^-1 in the energy region of interest. A blind analysis of 224.6 live days \times 34 kg exposure has yielded no evidence for dark matter interactions. The two candidate events observed in the pre-defined nuclear recoil energy range of 6.6-30.5 keVnr are consistent with the background expectation of (1.0 \pm 0.2) events. A Profile Likelihood analysis using a 6.6-43.3 keVnr energy range sets the most stringent limit o…
Midrapidity Antiproton-to-Proton Ratio inppCollisons ats=0.9and 7 TeV Measured by the ALICE Experiment
2010
The ratio of the yields of antiprotons to protons in pp collisions has been measured by the ALICE experiment at root s = 0.9 and 7 TeV during the initial running periods of the Large Hadron Collider. The measurement covers the transverse momentum interval 0.45 < p(t) < 1.05 GeV/c and rapidity vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.5. The ratio is measured to be R-vertical bar y vertical bar<0.5 = 0.957 +/- 0.006(stat) +/- 0.0014(syst) at 0.9 Tev and R-vertical bar y vertical bar<0.5 = 0.991 +/- 0.005 +/- 0.014(syst) at 7 TeV and it is independent of both rapidity and transverse momentum. The results are consistent with the conventional model of baryon-number transport and set stringent limits on a…
$^{222}$Rn emanation measurements for the XENON1T experiment
2021
The selection of low-radioactive construction materials is of utmost importance for the success of low-energy rare event search experiments. Besides radioactive contaminants in the bulk, the emanation of radioactive radon atoms from material surfaces attains increasing relevance in the effort to further reduce the background of such experiments. In this work, we present the $^{222}$Rn emanation measurements performed for the XENON1T dark matter experiment. Together with the bulk impurity screening campaign, the results enabled us to select the radio-purest construction materials, targeting a $^{222}$Rn activity concentration of 10 $\mu$Bq/kg in 3.2 t of xenon. The knowledge of the distribut…
Search for Light Dark Matter Interactions Enhanced by the Migdal Effect or Bremsstrahlung in XENON1T.
2019
Direct dark matter detection experiments based on a liquid xenon target are leading the search for dark matter particles with masses above ∼5 GeV/c2, but have limited sensitivity to lighter masses because of the small momentum transfer in dark matter-nucleus elastic scattering. However, there is an irreducible contribution from inelastic processes accompanying the elastic scattering, which leads to the excitation and ionization of the recoiling atom (the Migdal effect) or the emission of a bremsstrahlung photon. In this Letter, we report on a probe of low-mass dark matter with masses down to about 85 MeV/c2 by looking for electronic recoils induced by the Migdal effect and bremsstrahlung us…
Projected WIMP sensitivity of the XENONnT dark matter experiment
2020
XENONnT is a dark matter direct detection experiment, utilizing 5.9 t of instrumented liquid xenon, located at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. In this work, we predict the experimental background and project the sensitivity of XENONnT to the detection of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). The expected average differential background rate in the energy region of interest, corresponding to (1, 13) keV and (4, 50) keV for electronic and nuclear recoils, amounts to 12.3 ± 0.6 (keV t y)-1 and (2.2± 0.5)× 10−3 (keV t y)-1, respectively, in a 4 t fiducial mass. We compute unified confidence intervals using the profile construction method, in order to ensure proper coverage…
Effective field theory search for high-energy nuclear recoils using the XENON100 dark matter detector
2017
International audience; We report on weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) search results in the XENON100 detector using a nonrelativistic effective field theory approach. The data from science run II (34 kg×224.6 live days) were reanalyzed, with an increased recoil energy interval compared to previous analyses, ranging from (6.6–240) keVnr. The data are found to be compatible with the background-only hypothesis. We present 90% confidence level exclusion limits on the coupling constants of WIMP-nucleon effective operators using a binned profile likelihood method. We also consider the case of inelastic WIMP scattering, where incident WIMPs may up-scatter to a higher mass state, and …
The distributed Slow Control System of the XENON100 experiment
2012
The XENON100 experiment, in operation at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy, was designed to search for evidence of dark matter interactions inside a volume of liquid xenon using a dual-phase time projection chamber. This paper describes the Slow Control System (SCS) of the experiment with emphasis on the distributed architecture as well as on its modular and expandable nature. The system software was designed according to the rules of Object-Oriented Programming and coded in Java, thus promoting code reusability and maximum flexibility during commissioning of the experiment. The SCS has been continuously monitoring the XENON100 detector since mid 2008, remotely recordi…
Analysis of the XENON100 dark matter search data
2014
The XENON100 experiment, situated in the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, aims at the direct detection of dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), based on their interactions with xenon nuclei in an ultra low background dual-phase time projection chamber. This paper describes the general methods developed for the analysis of the XENON100 data. These methods have been used in the 100.9 and 224.6 live days science runs from which results on spin-independent elastic, spin-dependent elastic and inelastic WIMP-nucleon cross-sections have already been reported.
DARWIN: Towards the ultimate dark matter detector
2016
DARk matter WImp search with liquid xenoN (DARWIN) will be an experiment for the direct detection of dark matter using a multi-ton liquid xenon time projection chamber at its core. Its primary goal will be to explore the experimentally accessible parameter space for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) in a wide mass-range, until neutrino interactions with the target become an irreducible background. The prompt scintillation light and the charge signals induced by particle interactions in the xenon will be observed by VUV sensitive, ultra-low background photosensors. Besides its excellent sensitivity to WIMPs above a mass of 5 GeV/c2, such a detector with its large mass, low-energy …