Search for two-neutrino double-beta decay of 136Xe to the excited state of 136Ba with the complete EXO-200 dataset

S. Al Kharusi, G. Anton, I. Badhrees, P. S. Barbeau, D. Beck, V. Belov, T. Bhatta, M. Breidenbach, T. Brunner, G. F. Cao, W. R. Cen, C. Chambers, B. Cleveland, M. Coon, A. Craycraft, T. Daniels, L. Darroch, S. J. Daugherty, J. Davis, S. DelaquisA. Der Mesrobian-Kabakian, R. Devoe, J. Dilling, A. Dolgolenko, M. J. Dolinski, J. Echevers, W. Fairbank, D. Fairbank, J. Farine, S. Feyzbakhsh, P. Fierlinger, Y. S. Fu, D. Fudenberg, P. Gautam, R. Gornea, G. Gratta, C. Hall, E. V. Hansen, J. Hoessl, P. Hufschmidt, M. Hughes, A. Iverson, A. Jamil, C. Jessiman, M. J. Jewell, A. Johnson, A. Karelin, L. J. Kaufman, T. Koffas, R. Krücken, A. Kuchenkov, K. S. Kumar, Y. Lan, A. Larson, B. G. Lenardo, D. S. Leonard, G. S. Li, S. Li, Z. Li, C. Licciardi, Y. H. Lin, R. MacLellan, T. McElroy, T. Michel, B. Mong, D. C. Moore, K. Murray, O. Njoya, O. Nusair, A. Odian, I. Ostrovskiy, A. Perna, A. Piepke, A. Pocar, F. Retière, A. L. Robinson, P. C. Rowson, J. Runge, S. Schmidt, D. Sinclair, K. Skarpaas, A. K. Soma, V. Stekhanov, M. Tarka, S. Thibado, J. Todd, T. Tolba, T. I. Totev, R. Tsang, B. Veenstra, V. Veeraraghavan, P. Vogel, J. L. Vuilleumier, M. Wagenpfeil, J. Watkins, M. Weber, L. J. Wen, U. Wichoski, G. Wrede, S. X. Wu, Q. Xia, D. R. Yahne, L. Yang, Y. R. Yen, O. Ya Zeldovich, T. Ziegler

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A new search for two-neutrino double-beta (2νββ) decay of 136Xe to the excited state of 136Ba is performed with the full EXO-200 dataset. A deep learning-based convolutional neural network is used to discriminate signal from background events. Signal detection efficiency is increased relative to previous searches by EXO-200 by more than a factor of two. With the addition of the Phase II dataset taken with an upgraded detector, the median 90% confidence level half-life sensitivity of 2νββ decay to the state of 136Ba is yr using a total 136Xe exposure of 234.1 kg yr. No statistically significant evidence for 2νββ decay to the state is observed, leading to a lower limit of yr at 90% confidence level, improved by 70% relative to the current world's best constraint.

Original languageEnglish
Article number103001
JournalChinese Physics C
Volume47
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Chinese Physical Society and the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and IOP Publishing Ltd.

Funding

EXO-200 is supported by DOE and NSF in the United States, NSERC in Canada, SNF in Switzerland, IBS in Korea, DFG in Germany, and CAS in China. EXO-200 data analysis and simulation uses resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)

FundersFunder number
National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program
U.S. Department of Energy EPSCoR
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
Chinese Academy of Sciences

    Keywords

    • EXO-200 experiment
    • excited state
    • neutrinoless double beta decay

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
    • Instrumentation
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics

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