Gamma-induced background in the KATRIN main spectrometer
Name
Altenmüller2019_Article_Gamma-inducedBackgroundInTheKA.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
1.98 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
8cbfb4dfdcddcb35dfec895e79779ac2
Author(s)
Altenmüller, K.
Arenz, M.
Baek, W.-J.
Beck, M.
Beglarian, A.
Behrens, J.
Berlev, A.
Besserer, U.
Blaum, K.
Block, F.
Date Issued
September 2019
Journal
European Physical Journal C
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Citation
Altenmüller, K. et al. "Gamma-induced background in the KATRIN main spectrometer." European Physical Journal C 79, 9 (September 2019): 807 © 2019 The Author(s)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The KATRIN experiment aims to measure the effective electron antineutrino mass mν¯e with a sensitivity of 0.2eV/c2 using a gaseous tritium source combined with the MAC-E filter technique. A low background rate is crucial to achieving the proposed sensitivity, and dedicated measurements have been performed to study possible sources of background electrons. In this work, we test the hypothesis that gamma radiation from external radioactive sources significantly increases the rate of background events created in the main spectrometer (MS) and observed in the focal-plane detector. Using detailed simulations of the gamma flux in the experimental hall, combined with a series of experimental tests that artificially increased or decreased the local gamma flux to the MS, we set an upper limit of 0.006count/s (90% C.L.) from this mechanism. Our results indicate the effectiveness of the electrostatic and magnetic shielding used to block secondary electrons emitted from the inner surface of the MS.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Laboratory for Nuclear Science
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7320-4
