Search for Dark Matter induced 180Ta decay in MAJORANA
ORAL
Abstract
The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR experiment ended its search for neutrinoless double beta decay in March 2021. MAJORANA operates one of the world-leading ultra-low background experiments, and we modified this facility to search for one of the rarest isotope decays. The isotope 180Ta is the only known isotope in nature that occurs in an isomeric state instead of the ground state. The isomeric decay is spin-suppressed, and its decay has never been observed. Beyond understanding the mechanisms that play a role in its decay, the rare state can be exploited to search for dark matter (DM) through a stimulated decay. In this project, we installed clean Ta samples between the HPGe detectors and are exploiting the ultra-low background environment to search for the nuclear decay and the possible induced emission by DM. We will describe the status of this search.
*This material is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, the Particle Astrophysics and Nuclear Physics Programs of the National Science Foundation, and the Sanford Underground Research Facility. We acknowledge the support of the U.S. Department of Energy through the LANL/LDRD Program.
–
Presenters
-
Steve R Elliott
- Los Alamos National Laboratory