arXiv subjects

D. Q. Fang

Publications and source records attributed to D. Q. Fang.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Status of the CUORE and results from the CUORE-0 neutrinoless double beta decay experiments

CUORE is a 741 kg array of TeO2 bolometers for the search of neutrinoless double beta decay of 130Te. The detector is being constructed at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy, where it will start taking data in 2015. If the target background of 0.01 counts/keV/kg/y will be reached, in five years of data taking CUORE will have a 1 sigma half life sensitivity of 10E26 y. CUORE-0 is a smaller experiment constructed to test and demonstrate the performances expected for CUORE. The detector is a single tower of 52 CUORE-like bolometers that started taking data in spring 2013. The status and perspectives of CUORE will be discussed, and the first CUORE-0 data will be presented.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2015

CUORE-0 results and prospects for the CUORE experiment

With 741 kg of TeO2 crystals and an excellent energy resolution of 5 keV (0.2%) at the region of interest, the CUORE (Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events) experiment aims at searching for neutrinoless double beta decay of 130Te with unprecedented sensitivity. Expected to start data taking in 2015, CUORE is currently in an advanced construction phase at LNGS. CUORE projected neutrinoless double beta decay half-life sensitivity is 1.6E26 y at 1 sigma (9.5E25 y at the 90% confidence level), in five years of live time, corresponding to an upper limit on the effective Majorana mass in the range 40-100 meV (50-130 meV). Further background rejection with auxiliary bolometric detectors could improve CUORE sensitivity and competitiveness of bolometric detectors towards a full analysis of the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy. CUORE-0 was built to test and demonstrate the performance of the upcoming CUORE experiment. It consists of a single CUORE tower (52 TeO2 bolometers of 750 g each, arranged in a 13 floor structure) constructed strictly following CUORE recipes both for materials and assembly procedures. An experiment its own, CUORE-0 is expected to reach a sensitivity to the neutrinoless double beta decay half-life of 130Te around 3E24 y in one year of live time. We present an update of the data, corresponding to an exposure of 18.1 kg y. An analysis of the background indicates that the CUORE performance goal is satisfied while the sensitivity goal is within reach.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2014

Correlation between elliptic flow and shear viscosity in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions

The correlation between the elliptic flow $v_2$ scaled by the impact parameter $b$ and the shear viscosity $η$ as well as the specific viscosity $η/s$, defined as the ratio of the shear viscosity to the entropy density $s$, is investigated for the first time in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions based on an isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamic model. The elliptic flow is calculated at balance energies to exclude the geometric influence such as the blocking effect from the spectators. Our study shows that $v_{2}/b$ decreases almost linearly with increasing $η$, consistent with that observed in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. On the other hand, $v_{2}/b$ is found to increase with increasing $η/s$.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2014

Initial performance of the CUORE-0 experiment

CUORE-0 is a cryogenic detector that uses an array of tellurium dioxide bolometers to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of ^{130}Te. We present the first data analysis with 7.1 kg y of total TeO_2 exposure focusing on background measurements and energy resolution. The background rates in the neutrinoless double-beta decay region of interest (2.47 to 2.57 MeV) and in the α background-dominated region (2.70 to 3.90 MeV) have been measured to be 0.071 \pm 0.011 and 0.019 \pm 0.002 counts/keV/kg/y, respectively. The latter result represents a factor of 6 improvement from a predecessor experiment, Cuoricino. The results verify our understanding of the background sources in CUORE-0, which is the basis of extrapolations to the full CUORE detector. The obtained energy resolution (full width at half maximum) in the region of interest is 5.7 keV. Based on the measured background rate and energy resolution in the region of interest, CUORE-0 half-life sensitivity is expected to surpass the observed lower bound of Cuoricino with one year of live time.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2014

CUORE and beyond: bolometric techniques to explore inverted neutrino mass hierarchy

The CUORE (Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events) experiment will search for neutrinoless double beta decay of $^{130}$Te. With 741 kg of TeO$_2$ crystals and an excellent energy resolution of 5 keV (0.2%) at the region of interest, CUORE will be one of the most competitive neutrinoless double beta decay experiments on the horizon. With five years of live time, CUORE projected neutrinoless double beta decay half-life sensitivity is $1.6\times 10^{26}$ y at $1σ$ ($9.5\times10^{25}$ y at the 90% confidence level), which corresponds to an upper limit on the effective Majorana mass in the range 40--100 meV (50--130 meV). Further background rejection with auxiliary light detector can significantly improve the search sensitivity and competitiveness of bolometric detectors to fully explore the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy with $^{130}$Te and possibly other double beta decay candidate nuclei.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2014

PandaX: A Liquid Xenon Dark Matter Experiment at CJPL

PandaX is a large upgradable liquid-xenon detector system that can be used for both direct dark-matter detection and $^{136}$Xe double-beta decay search. It is located in the Jinping Deep-Underground Laboratory in Sichuan, China. The detector operates in dual-phase mode, allowing detection of both prompt scintillation, and ionization charge through proportional scintillation. The central time projection chamber will be staged, with the first stage accommodating a target mass of about 120\,kg. In stage II, the target mass will be increased to about 0.5\,ton. In the final stage, the detector can be upgraded to a multi-ton target mass. In this paper a detailed description of the stage-I detector design and performance results established during the commissioning phase is presented.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2014

Exploring the Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay in the Inverted Neutrino Hierarchy with Bolometric Detectors

Neutrinoless double beta decay (0nubb) is one of the most sensitive probes for physics beyond the Standard Model, providing unique information on the nature of neutrinos. In this paper we review the status and outlook for bolometric 0nubb decay searches. We summarize recent advances in background suppression demonstrated using bolometers with simultaneous readout of heat and light signals. We simulate several configurations of a future CUORE-like bolometer array which would utilize these improvements and present the sensitivity reach of a hypothetical next-generation bolometric 0nubb experiment. We demonstrate that a bolometric experiment with the isotope mass of about 1 ton is capable of reaching the sensitivity to the effective Majorana neutrino mass (|mee|) of order 10-20 meV, thus completely exploring the so-called inverted neutrino mass hierarchy region. We highlight the main challenges and identify priorities for an R&D program addressing them.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2014

Shear viscosity of hot nuclear matter by the mean free path method

The shear viscosity of hot nuclear matter is investigated by using the mean free path method within the framework of IQMD model. Finite size nuclear sources at different density and temperature are initialized based on the Fermi-Dirac distribution. The results show that shear viscosity to entropy density ratio decreases with the increase of temperature and tends toward a constant value for $ρ\simρ_0$, which is consistent with the previous studies on nuclear matter formed during heavy-ion collisions. At $ρ\sim\frac{1}{2}ρ_0$, a minimum of $η/s$ is seen at around $T=10$ MeV and a maximum of the multiplicity of intermediate mass fragment ($M_{\text{IMF}}$) is also observed at the same temperature which is an indication of the liquid-gas phase transition.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2014

Nuclear modification factor in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions

The transverse momentum dependent nuclear modification factors (NMF), namely $R_{CP}$, is investigated for protons produced in Au + Au at 1$A$ GeV within the framework of the isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamics (IQMD) model. It is found that the radial collective motion during the expansion stage affects the NMF at low transverse momentum a lot. By fitting the transverse mass spectra of protons with the distribution function from the Blast-Wave model, the magnitude of radial flow can be extracted. After removing the contribution from radial flow, the $R_{CP}$ can be regarded as a thermal one and is found to keep unitary at transverse momentum lower than 0.6 GeV/c and enhance at higher transverse momentum, which can be attributed to Cronin effect.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2014

Triton/$^{3}$He ratio as an observable for neutron skin thickness

Based on the framework of the Isospin-Dependent Quantum Molecular Dynamics (IQMD) model in which the initial neutron and proton densities are sampled according to the droplet model, the correlation between triton-to-$^{3}$He yield ratio (R(t/$^{3}$He)$=$Yield(t)/Yield($^{3}$He)) and neutron skin thickness ($δ_{np}$) in neutron-rich projectile induced reactions is investigated. By changing the diffuseness parameter of neutron density distribution in the droplet model for the projectile to obtain different $δ_{np}$, the relationship between $δ_{np}$ and the corresponding R(t/$^{3}$He) in semi-peripheral collisions is obtained. The calculated results show that R(t/$^{3}$He) has a strong linear correlation with $δ_{np}$ for neutron-rich $^{50}$Ca and $^{68}$Ni nuclei. It is suggested that R(t/$^{3}$He) could be regarded as a good experimental observable to extract $δ_{np}$ for neutron-rich nuclei because the yields of charged particles triton and $^{3}$He can be measured quite precisely.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2013

Isoscalar giant monopole resonance in Sn isotopes using a quantum molecular dynamics model

The isoscalar giant monopole resonance (ISGMR) in Sn isotopes and other nuclei is investigated in the framework of the isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamics (IQMD) model. The spectrum of GMR is calculated by taking the root-mean-square (RMS) radius of a nucleus as its monopole moment. The peak energy, the full width at half maximum (FWHM), and the strength of GMR extracted by a Gaussian fit to the spectrum have been studied. The GMR peak energies for Sn isotopes from the calculations using a mass-number dependent Gaussian wave-packet width $σ_r$ for nucleons are found to be overestimated and show a weak dependence on the mass number compared with the experimental data. However, it is found that experimental data of the GMR peak energies for $^{56}$Ni, $^{90}$Zr, and $^{208}$Pb as well as Sn isotopes can be nicely reproduced after taking into account the isospin dependence in isotope chains in addition to the mass number dependence of $σ_r$ for nucleons in the IQMD model calculation.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2013

Thermodynamic properties and shear viscosity over entropy density ratio of nuclear fireball in a quantum-molecular dynamics model

Thermodynamic and transport properties of nuclear fireball created in the central region of heavy-ion collisions below 400 MeV/nucleon are investigated within the isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamic (IQMD) model. These properties including the density, temperature, chemical potential, entropy density ($s$) and shear viscosity ($η$), are calculated by a generalized hot Thomas Fermi formulism and a parameterized function, which was developed by Danielewicz. As the collision goes on, a transient minimal $η/s=5/4π-10/4π$ occurs in the largest compression stage. Besides, the relationship of $η/s$ to temperature ($T$) in the freeze-out stage displays a local minimum which is about 9-20 times $1/4π$ around $T$ = 8-12 MeV, which can be argued as indicative of a liquid gas phase transition. In addition, the influences of nucleon-nucleon (NN) cross section ($σ_{NN}$) and symmetry energy coefficient ($C_{s}$) are also discussed, and it is found that the results are sensitive to $σ_{NN}$ but not to $C_{s}$.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2013

Search for 14.4 keV solar axions from M1 transition of Fe-57 with CUORE crystals

We report the results of a search for axions from the 14.4 keV M1 transition from Fe-57 in the core of the sun using the axio-electric effect in TeO2 bolometers. The detectors are 5x5x5 cm3 crystals operated at about 10 mK in a facility used to test bolometers for the CUORE experiment at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. An analysis of 43.65 kg d of data was made using a newly developed low energy trigger which was optimized to reduce the detectors energy threshold. An upper limit of 0.63 c kg-1 d-1 was established at 95% C.L.. From this value, a lower bound at 95% C.L. was placed on the Peccei-Quinn energy scale of fa >= 0.76 10**6 GeV for a value of S=0.55 for the flavor-singlet axial vector matrix element. Bounds are given for the interval 0.15 < S < 0.55.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2013

Validation of techniques to mitigate copper surface contamination in CUORE

In this article we describe the background challenges for the CUORE experiment posed by surface contamination of inert detector materials such as copper, and present three techniques explored to mitigate these backgrounds. Using data from a dedicated test apparatus constructed to validate and compare these techniques we demonstrate that copper surface contamination levels better than 10E-07 - 10E-08 Bq/cm2 are achieved for 238U and 232Th. If these levels are reproduced in the final CUORE apparatus the projected 90% C.L. upper limit on the number of background counts in the region of interest is 0.02-0.03 counts/keV/kg/y depending on the adopted mitigation technique.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2013

Sensitivity and Discovery Potential of CUORE to Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay

We present a study of the sensitivity and discovery potential of CUORE, a bolometric double-beta decay experiment under construction at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. Two approaches to the computation of experimental sensitivity for various background scenarios are presented, and an extension of the sensitivity formulation to the discovery potential case is also discussed. Assuming a background rate of 10^-2 cts/(keV kg y), we find that, after 5 years of live time, CUORE has a 1 sigma sensitivity to the neutrinoless double-beta decay half-life of T_1/2(1 sigma) = 1.6 \times 10^26 y and thus a potential to probe the effective Majorana neutrino mass down to 40-100 meV; the sensitivity at 1.64 sigma, which corresponds to 90% C.L., will be T_1/2(1.64 sigma) = 9.5 \times 10^25 y. This range is compared with the claim of observation of neutrinoless double-beta decay in 76Ge and the preferred range of the neutrino mass parameter space from oscillation results.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2013

The low energy spectrum of TeO2 bolometers: results and dark matter perspectives for the CUORE-0 and CUORE experiments

We collected 19.4 days of data from four 750 g TeO2 bolometers, and in three of them we were able to set the energy threshold around 3 keV using a new analysis technique. We found a background rate ranging from 25 cpd/keV/kg at 3 keV to 2 cpd/keV/kg at 25 keV, and a peak at 4.7 keV. The origin of this peak is presently unknown, but its presence is confirmed by a reanalysis of 62.7 kg.days of data from the finished CUORICINO experiment. Finally, we report the expected sensitivities of the CUORE0 (52 bolometers) and CUORE (988 bolometers) experiments to a WIMP annual modulation signal.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2012

Nucleon-nucleon momentum correlation function as a probe of the density distribution of valence neutron in neutron-rich nucleus

Proton-neutron, neutron-neutron and proton-proton momentum correlation functions ($C_{pn}$, $C_{nn}$, $C_{pp}$) are systematically investigated for $^{15}$C and other C isotopes induced collisions at different entrance channel conditions within the framework of the isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamics (IDQMD) model complemented by the CRAB (correlation after burner) computation code. $^{15}$C is a prime exotic nucleus candidate due to the weakly bound valence neutron coupling with closed-neutron shell nucleus $^{14}$C. In order to study density dependence of correlation function by removing the isospin effect, the initialized $^{15}$C projectiles are sampled from two kinds of density distribution from RMF model, in which the valence neutron of $^{15}$C is populated on both 1$d$5/2 and 2$s$1/2 states, respectively. The results show that the density distributions of valence neutron significantly influence nucleon-nucleon momentum correlation function at large impact parameter and high incident energy. The extended density distribution of valence neutron largely weakens the strength of correlation function. The size of emission source is extracted by fitting correlation function using Gaussian source method. The emission source size as well as the size of final state phase space is larger for projectiles sampling from more extended density distribution of valence neutron corresponding 2$s$1/2 state in RMF model. Therefore momentum correlation function can be considered as a potential valuable tool to diagnose the exotic nuclear structure such as skin and halo.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2012

Ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density in multifragmentation of Au + Au

The ratio of the shear viscosity ($η$) to entropy density ($s$) for the intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions has been calculated by using the Green-Kubo method in the framework of the quantum molecular dynamics model. The theoretical curve of $η/s$ as a function of the incident energy for the head-on Au+Au collisions displays that a minimum region of $η/s$ has been approached at higher incident energies, where the minimum $η/s$ value is about 7 times Kovtun-Son- Starinets (KSS) bound (1/4$π$). We argue that the onset of minimum $η/s$ region at higher incident energies corresponds to the nuclear liquid gas phase transition in nuclear multifragmentation.

nucl-th↗