Determination of Double Beta Decay Half-Life of 136Xe with the PandaX-4T Natural Xenon Detector

Lin Si; Zhaokan Cheng; Abdusalam Abdukerim; Zihao Bo; Wei Chen; Xun Chen; Yunhua Chen; Chen Cheng; Yunshan Cheng; Xiangyi Cui; Yingjie Fan; Deqing Fang; Changbo Fu; Mengting Fu; Lisheng Geng; Karl Giboni; Linhui Gu; Xuyuan Guo; Ke Han; Changda He; Jinrong He; Di Huang; Yanlin Huang; Zhou Huang; Ruquan Hou; Xiangdong Ji; Yonglin Ju; Chenxiang Li; Jiafu Li; Mingchuan Li; Shu Li; Shuaijie Li; Qing Lin; Jianglai Liu; Xiaoying Lu; Lingyin Luo; Yunyang Luo; Wenbo Ma; Yugang Ma; Yajun Mao; Yue Meng; Nasir Shaheed; Xiaofeng Shang; Xuyang Ning; Ningchun Qi; Zhicheng Qian; Xiangxiang Ren; Changsong Shang; Guofang Shen; Wenliang Sun; Andi Tan; Yi Tao; Anqing Wang; Meng Wang; Qiuhong Wang; Shaobo Wang; Siguang Wang; Wei Wang; Xiuli Wang; Zhou Wang; Yuehuan Wei; Mengmeng Wu; Weihao Wu; Jingkai Xia; Mengjiao Xiao; Xiang Xiao; Pengwei Xie; Binbin Yan; Xiyu Yan; Jijun Yang; Yong Yang; Chunxu Yu; Jumin Yuan; Ying Yuan; Zhe Yuan; Dan Zhang; Minzhen Zhang; Peng Zhang; Shibo Zhang; Shu Zhang; Tao Zhang; Li Zhao; Qibin Zheng; Jifang Zhou; Ning Zhou; Xiaopeng Zhou; Yong Zhou

doi:10.34133/2022/9798721

Determination of Double Beta Decay Half-Life of ¹³⁶Xe with the PandaX-4T Natural Xenon Detector

Research (Wash D C). 2022 Nov 25:2022:9798721. doi: 10.34133/2022/9798721. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Lin Si¹, Zhaokan Cheng², Abdusalam Abdukerim¹, Zihao Bo¹, Wei Chen¹, Xun Chen^{1

3}, Yunhua Chen⁴, Chen Cheng⁵, Yunshan Cheng^{6

7}, Xiangyi Cui⁸, Yingjie Fan⁹, Deqing Fang¹⁰, Changbo Fu¹⁰, Mengting Fu¹¹, Lisheng Geng^{12

13}, Karl Giboni¹, Linhui Gu¹, Xuyuan Guo⁴, Ke Han¹, Changda He¹, Jinrong He⁴, Di Huang¹, Yanlin Huang¹⁴, Zhou Huang¹, Ruquan Hou³, Xiangdong Ji¹⁵, Yonglin Ju¹⁶, Chenxiang Li¹, Jiafu Li⁵, Mingchuan Li⁴, Shu Li¹⁶, Shuaijie Li⁸, Qing Lin^{17

18}, Jianglai Liu^{1

3

8}, Xiaoying Lu^{6

7}, Lingyin Luo¹¹, Yunyang Luo^{17

18}, Wenbo Ma¹, Yugang Ma¹⁰, Yajun Mao¹¹, Yue Meng^{1

3}, Nasir Shaheed^{6

7}, Xiaofeng Shang¹, Xuyang Ning¹, Ningchun Qi⁴, Zhicheng Qian¹, Xiangxiang Ren^{6

7}, Changsong Shang⁴, Guofang Shen¹², Wenliang Sun⁴, Andi Tan¹⁵, Yi Tao^{1

3}, Anqing Wang^{6

7}, Meng Wang^{6

7}, Qiuhong Wang¹⁰, Shaobo Wang^{1

19}, Siguang Wang¹¹, Wei Wang^{2

5}, Xiuli Wang¹⁶, Zhou Wang^{1

3

8}, Yuehuan Wei², Mengmeng Wu⁵, Weihao Wu¹, Jingkai Xia¹, Mengjiao Xiao¹⁵, Xiang Xiao⁵, Pengwei Xie⁸, Binbin Yan¹, Xiyu Yan¹⁴, Jijun Yang¹, Yong Yang¹, Chunxu Yu⁹, Jumin Yuan^{6

7}, Ying Yuan¹, Zhe Yuan¹⁰, Dan Zhang¹⁵, Minzhen Zhang¹, Peng Zhang⁴, Shibo Zhang¹, Shu Zhang⁵, Tao Zhang¹, Li Zhao¹, Qibin Zheng¹⁴, Jifang Zhou⁴, Ning Zhou¹, Xiaopeng Zhou¹², Yong Zhou⁴

Affiliations

¹ MOE Key Laboratory for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Particle Physics and Cosmology, School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
² Sino-French Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China.
³ Sichuan Research Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Chengdu 610213, China.
⁴ Yalong River Hydropower Development Company, Ltd., 288 Shuanglin Road, Chengdu 610051, China.
⁵ School of Physics, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
⁶ Research Center for Particle Science and Technology, Institute of Frontier and Interdisciplinary Science, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 Shandong, China.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Particle Physics and Particle Irradiation of Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 Shandong, China.
⁸ Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
⁹ School of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
¹⁰ Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Ion-Beam Application (MOE), Institute of Modern Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
¹¹ School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
¹² School of Physics, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.
¹³ International Research Center for Nuclei and Particles in the Cosmos & Beijing key Laboratory of Advanced Nuclear Materials and Physics, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.
¹⁴ School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China.
¹⁵ Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
¹⁶ School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
¹⁷ State Key Laboratory of Particle Detection and Electronics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
¹⁸ Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
¹⁹ SJTU Paris Elite Institute of Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.

Abstract

Precise measurement of two-neutrino double beta decay (DBD) half-life is an important step for the searches of Majorana neutrinos with neutrinoless double beta decay. We report the measurement of DBD half-life of ¹³⁶Xe using the PandaX-4T dual-phase Time Projection Chamber (TPC) with 3.7-tonne natural xenon and the first 94.9-day physics data release. The background model in the fiducial volume is well constrained in situ by events in the outer active region. With a ¹³⁶Xe exposure of 15.5 kg-year, we establish the half-life as 2.27 ± 0.03(stat.) ± 0.10(syst.) × 10²¹ years. This is the first DBD half-life measurement with natural xenon and demonstrates the physics capability of a large-scale liquid xenon TPC in the field of rare event searches.