Aprile, E., Aalbers, J., Abe, K. et al. (160 more authors) (2025) XENONnT WIMP search: signal and background modeling and statistical inference. Physical Review D, 111 (10). 103040. ISSN 2470-0010
Abstract
The XENONnT experiment searches for weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter scattering off a xenon nucleus. In particular, XENONnT uses a dual-phase time projection chamber with a 5.9-ton liquid xenon target, detecting both scintillation and ionization signals to reconstruct the energy, position, and type of recoil. A blind search for nuclear recoil WIMPs with an exposure of 1.1 ton-years (4.18 t fiducial mass) yielded no signal excess over background expectations, from which competitive exclusion limits were derived on WIMP-nucleon elastic scatter cross sections, for WIMP masses ranging from 6 GeV=c2 up to the TeV=c2 scale. This work details the modeling and statistical methods employed in this search. By means of calibration data, we model the detector response, which is then used to derive background and signal models. The construction and validation of these models is discussed, alongside additional purely data-driven backgrounds. We also describe the statistical inference framework, including the definition of the likelihood function and the construction of confidence intervals.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by the Max Planck Society. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Keywords: | Nuclear and Plasma Physics; Particle and High Energy Physics; Physical Sciences |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 28 May 2025 12:10 |
Last Modified: | 29 May 2025 13:31 |
Published Version: | https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/Phys... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Physical Society |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1103/physrevd.111.103040 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:227152 |