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arXiv · 2301.11893

Observation of low-lying isomeric states in $^{136}$Cs: a new avenue for dark matter and solar neutrino detection in xenon detectors

Scott J. Haselschwardt·Brian G. Lenardo·Timothy Daniels·Sean W. Finch·Forrest Q. L. Friesen·Calvin R. Howell·Collin R. Malone·Ethan Mancil·Werner Tornow
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Abstract

We report on new measurements establishing the existence of low-lying isomeric states in $^{136}$Cs using $\gamma$ rays produced in $^{136}$Xe(p,n)$^{136}$Cs reactions. Two states with $\mathcal{O}(100)$~ns lifetimes are placed in the decay sequence of the $^{136}$Cs levels that are populated in charged-current interactions of solar neutrinos and fermionic dark matter with $^{136}$Xe. Xenon-based experiments can therefore exploit a delayed-coincidence tag of these interactions, greatly suppressing backgrounds to enable spectroscopic studies of solar neutrinos and dark matter.

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Scott J. Haselschwardt, Brian G. Lenardo, Timothy Daniels, Sean W. Finch, Forrest Q. L. Friesen, Calvin R. Howell, Collin R. Malone, Ethan Mancil, Werner Tornow. 2023-01-27. Observation of low-lying isomeric states in $^{136}$Cs: a new avenue for dark matter and solar neutrino detection in xenon detectors. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.131.052502

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