Title :
A Global Analysis of Light and Charge Yields in Liquid Xenon
Author :
Lenardo, Brian ; Kazkaz, Kareem ; Manalaysay, Aaron ; Mock, Jeremy ; Szydagis, Matthew ; Tripathi, Mani
Author_Institution :
Univ. of California - Davis, Davis, CA, USA
Abstract :
We present an updated model of light and charge yields from nuclear recoils in liquid xenon with a simultaneously constrained parameter set. A global analysis is performed using measurements of electron and photon yields compiled from all available historical data, as well as measurements of the ratio of the two. These data sweep over energies from 1 - 300 keV and external applied electric fields from 0 - 4060 V/cm. The model is constrained by constructing global cost functions and using a simulated annealing algorithm and a Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach to optimize and find confidence intervals on all free parameters in the model. This analysis contrasts with previous work in that we do not unnecessarily exclude data sets nor impose artificially conservative assumptions, do not use spline functions, and reduce the number of parameters used in NEST v0.98. We report our results and the calculated best-fit charge and light yields. These quantities are crucial to understanding the response of liquid xenon detectors in the energy regime important for rare event searches such as the direct detection of dark matter particles.
Keywords :
Markov processes; Monte Carlo methods; dark matter; liquid scintillation detectors; simulated annealing; xenon; Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach; NEST v0.98; Xe; artificially conservative assumptions; best-fit charge yield; best-fit light yield; constrained parameter set; dark matter particle direct detection; data sweep; electron volt energy 1 keV to 300 keV; electron yield measurements; energy regime; external applied electric fields; global analysis; global cost functions; liquid xenon; liquid xenon detectors; nuclear recoils; photon yield measurements; rare event searches; simulated annealing algorithm; spline functions; Dark energy; Data models; Gamma-ray effects; Monte Carlo methods; Neutrino sources; Radiation detectors; Scintillation counters; Simulated annealing; Dark matter search; Markov chain; Monte Carlo; energy scale; gamma-ray apparatus; gamma-ray detection; gas scintillation; ionization chambers; liquid rare gases; liquid scintillation; liquid xenon; neutrino detection; particle calorimetry; radiation detectors; scintillation counters; simulation; yield estimation;
Journal_Title :
Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TNS.2015.2481322