Background assessment for the TREX dark matter experiment

Castel, J. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Cebrian, S. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Coarasa, I. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Dafni, T. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Galan, J. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Iguaz, F.J. ; García Irastorza, I. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Luzón, G. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Mirallas, H. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Ortiz de Solórzano, A. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Ruiz-Chóliz, E. (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Resumen: TREX-DM is conceived to look for low-mass Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) using a gas Time Projection Chamber equipped with Micromegas readout planes at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory. The detector can hold in the active volume 20l\{-69pt}begin{document}$$\sim 20l$$\end{document} of pressurized gas up to 10 bar, corresponding to 0.30 kg of Ar or 0.16 kg of Ne. The Micromegas are read with a self-triggered acquisition, being thresholds below 0.4 keV (electron equivalent) at reach. A low background level in the lowest energy region is another essential requirement. To assess the expected background, all the relevant sources have been considered, including the measured fluxes of gamma radiation, muons and neutrons at the Canfranc Laboratory, together with the activity of most of the components used in the detector and ancillary systems, obtained in a complete assay program. The background contributions have been simulated by means of a dedicated application based on Geant4 and a custom-made code for the detector response. The background model developed for the detector presently installed in Canfranc points to levels from 1 to 10 counts keV-1kg-1day-1\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}{-\begin{document}$$\hbox {keV}<^>{-1}\ \hbox {kg}<^>{-1}\ \hbox {day}<^>{-1}$$\end{document} in the region of interest, making TREX-DM competitive in the search for low-mass WIMPs. A roadmap to further decrease it down to 0.1 counts keV(-1)kg(-1)day(-1)}\ \hbox {day}<^>{-1}$$\end{document} is underway.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7282-6

Año: 2019

Publicado en: The European Physical Journal C 79, 9 (2019), 782 [19 pp.]
ISSN: 1434-6044

Factor impacto JCR: 4.389 (2019)

Categ. JCR: PHYSICS, PARTICLES & FIELDS rank: 7 / 29 = 0.241 (2019) - Q1 - T1

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 1.763 - Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous) (Q1) - Engineering (miscellaneous) (Q1)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/ 240054/EU/Novel Developments in Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) for Rare Event Searches in Underground Astroparticle EXperiments/TREX
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/FPA2013-41085-P
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/FPA2016-76978-C3-1-P

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)

Área (Departamento): Proy. investigación HCA (Dpto. Física Teórica)
Área (Departamento): Área Física Atóm.Molec.y Nucl. (Dpto. Física Teórica)