Speaker
Description
Xenon-based detectors are powerful tools in the search for low energy signatures of new physics. Here we report on experimental results that open up a new channel for rare event searches in these detectors: MeV-scale charged-current interactions on $^{136}$Xe nuclei. These interactions populate low-lying 1+ excited states in $^{136}$Cs, which then relax to the ground state. We have performed measurements of $\gamma$ rays produced by $(p,n)$ reactions on $^{136}$Xe, providing the first data on the gamma ray emission from the relevant excited states in $^{136}$Cs. We identify two isomeric states with O(100)~ns lifetimes, enabling delayed-coincidence analyses that can dramatically suppress backgrounds. These results may enable xenon-based detectors to perform background-free measurements of solar $^{7}$Be and CNO neutrinos, as well as achieve unprecedented sensitivity to dark matter particles interacting with nuclei through new charged-current-like interactions.
| Submitted on behalf of a Collaboration? | No |
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