Radiogenic and Muon-Induced Backgrounds in the LUX Dark Matter Detector

D. S. Akerib, H. M. Araujo, X. Bai, A. J. Bailey, J. Balajthy, E. Bernard, A. Bernstein, A. Bradley, D. Byram, S. B. Cahn, M. C. Carmona-Benitez, C. Chan, J. J. Chapman, A. A. Chiller, C. Chiller, T. Coffey, A. Currie, L. de Viveiros, A. Dobi, J. DobsonE. Druszkiewicz, B. Edwards, C. H. Faham, S. Fiorucci, C. Flores, R. J. Gaitskell, V. M. Gehman, C. Ghagi, K. R. Gibson, M. G. D. Gilchriese, C. Hall, S. A. Hertel, M. Horn, D. Q. Huang, M. Ihm, R. G. Jacobsen, K. Kazkaz, R. Knoche, N. A. Larsen, C. Lee, A. Lindote, M. I. Lopes, D. C. Malling*, R. Mannino, D. N. McKinsey, D. -M. Mei, J. Mock, M. Moongweluwan, J. Morad, A. Std. Murphy, C. Nehrkorn, H. Nelson, F. Neves, R. A. Ott, M. Pangilinan, P. D. Parker, E. K. Pease, K. Pech, P. Phelps, L. Reichharti, T. Shutt, C. Silva, V. N. Solovov, P. Sorensen, K. O'Sullivan, T. J. Sumner, M. Szydagis, D. Taylor, B. Tennyson, D. R. Tiedt, M. Tripathi, S. Uvarov, J. R. Verbus, N. Walsh, R. Webb, J. T. White, M. S. Witherell, F. L. H. Wolfs, M. Woods, C. Zhang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment aims to detect rare low-energy interactions from Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). The radiogenic backgrounds in the LUX detector have been measured and compared with Monte Carlo simulation. Measurements of LUX high-energy data have provided direct constraints on all background sources contributing to the background model. The expected background rate from the background model for the 85.3 day WIMP search run is (2.6\pm0.2_{\textrm{stat}}\pm0.4_{\textrm{sys}})\times10^{-3}$~events~keV$_{ee}^{-1}$~kg$^{-1}$~day$^{-1}$ in a 118~kg fiducial volume. The observed background rate is $(3.6\pm0.4_{\textrm{stat}})\times10^{-3}$~events~keV$_{ee}^{-1}$~kg$^{-1}$~day$^{-1}$, consistent with model projections. The expectation for the radiogenic background in a subsequent one-year run is presented.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)33-46
Number of pages14
JournalAstroparticle Physics
Volume62
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2015

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • LUX
  • Dark matter
  • Radioactive background
  • Material screening
  • Simulation
  • LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURE
  • RADIOACTIVE KR-85
  • INDUCED NEUTRONS
  • XENON
  • ISOTOPE
  • LIGHT
  • FLUX

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