April 11, 2025
Journal Article

Assay-based background projection for the Majorana Demonstrator using Monte Carlo Uncertainty Propagation

Abstract

The background index is an important quantity which is used in projecting and calculating the half-life sensitivity of neutrinoless double-beta decay (0?ßß) experiments. A novel analysis framework is presented to calculate the background index using the specific activities, masses and simulated efficiencies of an experiment’s components as distributions. This Bayesian framework includes a unified approach to combine specific activities from assay. Monte Carlo uncertainty propagation is used to build a background index distribution from the specific activity, mass and efficiency distributions. This analysis method is applied to the Majorana Demonstrator, which deployed arrays of high-purity Ge detectors enriched in 76Ge to search for 0?ßß. The framework projects a mean background index of [1.16 ± 0.04] × 10-3 cts/(keV kg yr) for the Demonstrator.

Published: April 11, 2025

Citation

Arnquist I.J., F.T. Avignone, A.S. Barabash, C.J. Barton, K.H. Bhimani, E. Blalock, and B. Bos, et al. 2024. Assay-based background projection for the Majorana Demonstrator using Monte Carlo Uncertainty Propagation. Physical Review C 110, no. 5:Art. No. 055804. PNNL-SA-189738. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.110.055804

Research topics