arXiv subjects

Kathrin Valerius

Publications and source records attributed to Kathrin Valerius.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

An LNGS Mobile Neutron Detector (ALMOND): Mapping Ambient Neutron Background of Gran Sasso National Laboratory

In deep underground laboratories, environmental neutrons, which are produced at the cavern walls, introduce a source of background to rare event searches. The flux and spectrum of the ambient neutrons vary considerably with time and location. Precise knowledge of this background is necessary to devise shielding and veto mechanisms, thereby improving the sensitivity of the neutron-susceptible underground experiments. ALMOND, currently in operation, is a low-flux mobile neutron spectrometer developed for the LNGS underground laboratory to measure the ambient neutron background of the entire facility. In this paper, an overview of the design, construction and calibration of ALMOND is given. Furthermore, the result of the first underground neutron measurement is shown along with an outlook for future measurements and analyses.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

Commissioning of a mobile neutron spectrometer for LNGS

Environmental neutrons are a source of background for rare event searches in underground laboratories. Since the majority of the neutron background comes from the cavern walls due to the intrinsic radioactivity of concrete and rock, the flux is known to be time and location dependent. Therefore, a precise knowledge of the spectrum and of the total flux is needed to devise shielding and veto mechanisms for rare event searches. Here ALMOND (An LNGS Mobile Neutron Detector) is presented. It is a mobile neutron spectrometer, based on capture-gated spectroscopy and comprised of an array of plastic scintillator bars wrapped with gadolinium foils. The detector has been calibrated with Americium-Beryllium source at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and with an Americium-Boron source and a D-D generator at ENEA Frascati. The results of the neutron calibration with the time of flight method and the D-D generator are shown here, alongside the first results on capture time profile. Moreover, the first results from the neutron background run in Hall A at LNGS are presented.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

Comparison of the detector response and calibration function of metallic microcalorimeters for X-ray photons and external electrons

Metallic microcalorimeters (MMCs) are cryogenic single-particle detectors that rely on a calorimetric detection principle. Due to their excellent energy resolution, close-to-ideal linear detector response, fast signal rise time and the potential for \SI{100}{\%} quantum efficiency, MMCs outperform conventional detectors by several orders of magnitude in resolution. These attributes make them particularly interesting for a broad spectrum of applications, including a next-generation neutrino mass experiment based on the measurement of the tritium beta-decay spectrum, with an objective of achieving a sensitivity surpassing that of the pioneering KATRIN experiment. However, although MMCs have been used in measurements of photons and heavy ions with great success, no information is currently available on the interaction between MMCs and external light charged particles such as electrons. This work aims to provide such missing information and to demonstrate that MMC-based detectors are suitable for high-resolution spectroscopy of external electron sources. Particularly, we present the first-ever measurements of external electrons using a metallic microcalorimeter, comprehensively discuss the characteristics of the signal shape and the calibration function and give a direct comparison between well-defined conversion electron and X-ray photon signals from the same $^{83}$Rb/$^{83m}$Kr source.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

A lightweight analysis farm for fundamental physics experiments

Scientific collaborations require a strong computing infrastructure to successfully process and analyze data. While large-scale collaborations have access to resources such as Analysis Facilities, small-scale collaborations often lack the resources to establish and maintain such an infrastructure and instead operate with fragmented analysis environments, resulting in inefficiencies, hindering reproducibility and thus creating additional challenges for the collaboration that are not related to the experiment itself. We present a scalable, lightweight and maintainable Analysis Facility developed for the DARWIN collaboration as an example study case. Grid computing and storage resources are integrated into the facility, allowing for distributed computing and a common entry point for storage. The authentication and authorization infrastructure for all services is token-based, using an Indigo IAM instance. We discuss the architecture of the facility, its provided services, the user experience, and how it can serve as a sustainable blueprint for small-scale collaborations.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

Signal partitioning in superfluid ${}^4$He: a Monte Carlo approach

Superfluid ${}^4$He is an ideal candidate for the direct detection of light dark matter via nuclear recoils thanks to its low nuclear mass and the possibility to reach a low detection energy threshold by exploiting the generated quasiparticles. The design of future detectors based on this target, such as the DELight experiment, requires a proper understanding of the formation and partitioning of the signal for different energy depositions from various sources. This work presents an overview of the physical processes involved in the energy deposition of recoiling electrons and ions, and describes a Monte Carlo approach to the partitioning of the signal into different channels. Despite an overall good agreement with existing literature, differences in the region of interest for light dark matter searches below 200 eV are observed.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2023

Demonstration of tritium adsorption on graphene

In this work, we report on studies of graphene exposed to tritium gas in a controlled environment. The single layer graphene on a $\textrm{SiO}_2$/Si substrate was exposed to 400 mbar of $\textrm{T}_2$ for a total time of $\approx$ 55 h. The resistivity of the graphene sample was measured $\textit{in situ}$ during tritium exposure using the Van der Pauw method. We found that the sheet resistance increases by three orders of magnitude during the exposure, suggesting significant chemisorption of tritium. After exposure, the samples were characterised $\textit{ex situ}$ via spatio-chemical mapping with a confocal Raman microscope, to study the effect of tritium on the graphene structure (tritiation yielding T-graphene), as well as the homogeneity of modifications across the whole area of the graphene film. The Raman spectra after tritium exposure were comparable to previously observed results in hydrogen-loading experiments, carried out by other groups. By thermal annealing we also could demonstrate, using Raman spectral analysis, that the structural changes were largely reversible. Considering all observations, we conclude that the graphene film was at least partially tritiated during the tritium exposure, and that the graphene film by and large withstands the bombardment by electrons from the $\beta$-decay of tritium, as well as by energetic primary and secondary ions.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Design of a mobile neutron spectrometer for the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS)

Environmental neutrons are a source of background for rare event searches (e.g., dark matter direct detection and neutrinoless double beta decay experiments) taking place in deep underground laboratories. The overwhelming majority of these neutrons are produced in the cavern walls by means of intrinsic radioactivity of the rock and concrete. Their flux and spectrum depend on time and location. Precise knowledge of this background is necessary to devise sufficient shielding and veto mechanisms, improving the sensitivity of the neutron-susceptible underground experiments. In this report, we present the design and the expected performance of a mobile neutron detector for the LNGS underground laboratory. The detector is based on capture-gated spectroscopy technique and comprises essentially a stack of plastic scintillator bars wrapped by gadolinium foils. The extensive simulation studies demonstrate that the detector will be capable of measuring ambient neutrons at low flux levels ($\sim$$10^{-6}\,\mathrm{n/cm^2/s}$) at LNGS, where the ambient gamma flux is by about 5 orders of magnitude larger.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2022

DELight: a Direct search Experiment for Light dark matter with superfluid helium

To reach ultra-low detection thresholds necessary to probe unprecedentedly low Dark Matter masses, target material alternatives and novel detector designs are essential. One such target material is superfluid $^4$He which has the potential to probe so far uncharted light Dark Matter parameter space at sub-GeV masses. The new ``Direct search Experiment for Light dark matter'', DELight, will be using superfluid helium as active target, instrumented with magnetic micro-calorimeters. It is being designed to reach sensitivity to masses well below 100\,MeV in Dark Matter-nucleus scattering interactions.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2018

Tritium beta decay with additional emission of new light bosons

We consider tritium beta decay with additional emission of light pseudoscalar or vector bosons coupling to electrons or neutrinos. The electron energy spectrum for all cases is evaluated and shown to be well estimated by approximated analytical expressions. We give the statistical sensitivity of KATRIN to the mass and coupling of the new bosons, both in the standard setup of the experiment as well as for future modifications in which the full energy spectrum of tritium decay is accessible.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

A novel detector system for KATRIN to search for keV-scale sterile neutrinos

Sterile neutrinos are a minimal extension of the Standard Model of Particle Physics. If their mass is in the kilo-electron-volt regime, they are viable dark matter candidates. One way to search for sterile neutrinos in a laboratory-based experiment is via tritium-beta decay, where the new neutrino mass eigenstate would manifest itself as a kink-like distortion of the $β$-decay spectrum. The objective of the TRISTAN project is to extend the KATRIN setup with a new multi-pixel silicon drift detector system to search for a keV-scale sterile neutrino signal. In this paper we describe the requirements of such a new detector, and present first characterization measurement results obtained with a 7-pixel prototype system.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2017

Statistical sensitivity on right-handed currents in presence of eV scale sterile neutrinos with KATRIN

The KATRIN experiment aims to determine the absolute neutrino mass by measuring the endpoint region of the tritium $β$ spectrum. As a large-scale experiment with a sharp energy resolution, high source luminosity and low background it may also be capable of testing certain theories of neutrino interactions beyond the standard model (SM). An example of a non-SM interaction are right-handed currents mediated by right-handed W bosons in the left-right symmetric model (LRSM). In this extension of the SM, an additional SU(2)$_\mathrm R$ symmetry in the high-energy limit is introduced, which naturally includes sterile neutrinos and predicts the seesaw mechanism. In tritium $β$ decay, this leads to an additional term from interference between left- and right-handed interactions, which enhances or suppresses certain regions near the endpoint of the beta spectrum. In this work, the sensitivity of KATRIN to right-handed currents is estimated for the scenario of a light sterile neutrino with a mass of some eV. This has been performed with a Bayesian analysis using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). The simulations show that in principle KATRIN is able to set sterile neutrino mass-dependent limits on the interference strength. Thereby, the sensitivity is significantly increased if the $Q$ value of the $β$ decay can be sufficiently constrained. However, the sensitivity is not high enough to improve current upper limits from right-handed W boson searches at the LHC.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Deconvolution of the energy loss function of the KATRIN experiment

The KATRIN experiment aims at a direct and model independent determination of the neutrino mass with 0.2 eV/c^2 sensitivity (at 90% C.L.) via a measurement of the endpoint region of the tritium beta-decay spectrum. The main components of the experiment are a windowless gaseous tritium source (WGTS), differential and cryogenic pumping sections and a tandem of a pre- and a main-spectrometer, applying the concept of magnetic adiabatic collimation with an electrostatic retardation potential to analyze the energy of beta decay electrons and to guide electrons passing the filter onto a segmented silicon PIN detector. One of the important systematic uncertainties of such an experiment are due to energy losses of beta-decay electrons by elastic and inelastic scattering off tritium molecules within the source volume which alter the shape of the measured spectrum. To correct for these effects an independent measurement of the corresponding energy loss function is required. In this work we describe a deconvolution method to extract the energy loss function from measurements of the response function of the experiment at different column densities of the WGTS using a monoenergetic electron source.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2013

Limit on sterile neutrino contribution from the Mainz Neutrino Mass Experiment

The recent analysis of the normalization of reactor antineutrino data, the calibration data of solar neutrino experiments using gallium targets, and the results from the neutrino oscillation experiment MiniBooNE suggest the existence of a fourth light neutrino mass state with a mass of O(eV), which contributes to the electron neutrino with a sizable mixing angle. Since we know from measurements of the width of the Z0 resonance that there are only three active neutrinos, a fourth neutrino should be sterile (i.e., interact only via gravity). The corresponding fourth neutrino mass state should be visible as an additional kink in beta-decay spectra. In this work the phase II data of the Mainz Neutrino Mass Experiment have been analyzed searching for a possible contribution of a fourth light neutrino mass state. No signature of such a fourth mass state has been found and limits on the mass and the mixing of this fourth mass states are derived.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2007

Systematics and background suppression in the KATRIN experiment

Recent neutrino mass experiments at Mainz and Troitsk using tritium beta-decay have reached their sensitivity potential, yielding upper limits of about 2 eV/c^2 for the electron antineutrino mass. The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino experiment (KATRIN), designed to reach a sensitivity of 0.2 eV/c^2 (90% C.L.), will improve the signal rate by a factor of about 100 with respect to previous experiments while maintaining the same low background level at an enhanced energy resolution of 0.93 eV of the spectrometer which is scaled up by a factor of 10 in linear dimensions. This low background rate can only be achieved by active and passive reduction of the background components induced by the spectrometer itself and in the detector region. Furthermore, sources of systematic errors such as energy losses inside the tritium source or fluctuations of the energy scale of the spectrometer need to be carefully controlled and analysed. An overview of KATRIN's method to reduce the background rate and to determine the systematics as well as the sensitivity on the neutrino mass will be presented.

hep-ex↗