Projected sensitivity of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment to the two-neutrino and neutrinoless double beta decays of ${}^{134}$Xe

Abstract

The projected sensitivity of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment to two-neutrino and neutrinoless double beta decay of ${}^{134}$Xe is presented. LZ is a 10-tonne xenon time projection chamber optimized for the detection of dark matter particles, that is expected to start operating in 2021 at Sanford Underground Research Facility, USA. Its large mass of natural xenon provides an exceptional opportunity to search for the double beta decay of ${}^{134}$Xe, for which xenon detectors enriched in ${}^{136}$Xe are less effective. For the two-neutrino decay mode, LZ is predicted to exclude values of the half-life up to 1.7$\times$10${}^{24}$ years at 90% confidence level (CL), and has a three-sigma observation potential of 8.7$\times$10${}^{23}$ years, approaching the predictions of nuclear models. For the neutrinoless decay mode LZ, is projected to exclude values of the half-life up to 7.3$\times$10${}^{24}$ years at 90% CL.

Version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C

References in corpus (8)

• Phase space factors for double-$\beta$ decay
• $0\nu \beta \beta$ and $2\nu \beta \beta$ nuclear matrix elements in the interacting boson model with isospin restoration
• $0\nu \beta \beta$ and $2\nu \beta \beta$ nuclear matrix elements, QRPA, and isospin symmetry restoration
• Liquid noble gas detectors for low energy particle physics
• The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment
• Radiogenic and Muon-Induced Backgrounds in the LUX Dark Matter Detector
• The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) radioactivity and cleanliness control programs
• Double beta decay searches of Xe-134, Xe-126 and Xe-124 with large scale Xe detectors

Cited by in corpus (7)

• A Next-Generation Liquid Xenon Observatory for Dark Matter and Neutrino Physics
• Background Determination for the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Dark Matter Experiment
• Searching for Two-Neutrino and Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay of ${}^{134}$Xe with the PandaX-4T Experiment
• Deep-underground dark matter search with a COSINUS detector prototype
• Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Sensitivity of the XLZD Rare Event Observatory
• Development & Characterization of Electrodes for large-scale Xenon Time Projection Chambers
• Search for Double Beta Decays of ${}^{134}$Xe with EXO-200 Phase II