Measurement of two-neutrino double electron capture half-life of 124Xe with PandaX-4T
Abstract Detailed studies of two-neutrino double electron capture (2νDEC) is a crucial step towards searching for the neutrinoless mode to explore the Majorana nature of neutrinos. We have measured precisely the half-life of the 2νDEC process in 124Xe, utilizing a total exposure of 1.73 tonne year f...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SpringerOpen
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Journal of High Energy Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP05(2025)119 |
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| Summary: | Abstract Detailed studies of two-neutrino double electron capture (2νDEC) is a crucial step towards searching for the neutrinoless mode to explore the Majorana nature of neutrinos. We have measured precisely the half-life of the 2νDEC process in 124Xe, utilizing a total exposure of 1.73 tonne year from the commissioning run and the first science run of the PandaX-4T experiment. A time-dependent background model in the O $$ \mathcal{O} $$ (10 keV) energy is constructed for the first time in PandaX-4T data. With an unbinned maximum likelihood fit, we determine the half-life of the 2νDEC process to be (1.03 ± 0.15stat ± 0.08sys) × 1022 yr. Furthermore, we have evaluated the capture fraction for both electrons captured from the K shell (KK) to be (65 ± 5)%, which aligns with the 124Xe nuclear model calculations within 1.8 σ. |
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| ISSN: | 1029-8479 |