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Abstract CUPID is a next-generation bolometric experiment to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay ($$0\nu \beta \beta $$ ) of100Mo using Li$$_2$$ MoO$$_4$$ scintillating crystals. It will operate 1596 crystals at$$\sim $$ 10 mK in the CUORE cryostat at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. Each crystal will be facing two Ge-based bolometric light detectors for$$\alpha $$ rejection. We compute the discovery and the exclusion sensitivity of CUPID to$$0\nu \beta \beta $$ in a Frequentist and a Bayesian framework. This computation is done numerically based on pseudo-experiments. For the CUPIDbaselinescenario, with a background and an energy resolution of$$1.0 \times 10^{-4}$$ counts/keV/kg/yr and 5 keV FWHM at the Q-value, respectively, this results in a Bayesian exclusion sensitivity (90% c.i.) of$$\hat{T}_{1/2} > 1.6 \times 10^{27} \ \textrm{yr}$$ , corresponding to the effective Majorana neutrino mass of$$\hat{m}_{\beta \beta } < \ 9.6$$ –$$28 \ \textrm{meV}$$ . The Frequentist discovery sensitivity (3$$\sigma $$ ) is$$\hat{T}_{1/2}= 1.0 \times 10^{27} \ \textrm{yr}$$ , corresponding to$$\hat{m}_{\beta \beta }= \ 12$$ –$$36 \ \textrm{meV}$$ .more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available June 12, 2027
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We present the analysis techniques developed to explore the keV-scale energy region of the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) experiment, based on more than 2 metric ton yr of data collected over five years. By prioritizing a stricter selection over a larger exposure, we are able to optimize data selection for thresholds at 10 keV and 3 keV with 691 kg yr and 11 kg yr of data, respectively. We study how the performance varies among the 988-detector array with different detector characteristics and data-taking conditions. We achieve an average baseline resolution of FWHM and FWHM for the data selection at 10 keV and 3 keV, respectively. The analysis methods employed reduce the overall background by about an order of magnitude, reaching and at the thresholds of 10 keV and 3 keV. We evaluate for the first time the near-threshold reconstruction efficiencies of the CUORE experiment, and find these to be and at 10 keV and 3 keV, respectively. This analysis provides crucial insights into rare decay studies, new physics searches, and keV-scale background modeling with CUORE. We demonstrate that ton-scale cryogenic calorimeters can operate across a wide energy range, from keV to MeV, establishing their scalability as versatile detectors for rare event and dark matter physics. These findings also inform the optimization of future large mass cryogenic calorimeters to enhance the sensitivity to low-energy phenomena.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available January 23, 2027
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Abstract Vibrations from experimental setups and the environment are a persistent source of noise for low-temperature calorimeters searching for rare events, including neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay or dark matter interactions. Such noise can significantly limit experimental sensitivity to the physics case under investigation. Here, we report the detection of marine microseismic vibrations using mK-scale calorimeters. This study employs a multi-device analysis correlating data from CUORE, the leading experiment in the search for 0νββdecay with mK-scale calorimeters, and the Copernicus Earth Observation program, revealing the seasonal impact of Mediterranean Sea activity on CUORE’s energy thresholds, resolution, and sensitivity over four years. The detection of marine microseisms underscores the need to address faint environmental noise in ultra-sensitive experiments. Understanding how such noise couples to the detector and developing mitigation strategies is essential for next-generation experiments. We demonstrate one such strategy: a noise decorrelation algorithm implemented in CUORE using auxiliary sensors, which reduces vibrational noise and improves detector performance. Enhancing sensitivity to 0νββdecay and to rare events with low-energy signatures requires identifying unresolved noise sources, advancing noise reduction methods, and improving vibration suppression systems, all of which inform the design of next-generation rare event experiments.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available February 26, 2027
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Characterizing low-energy, keV-range nuclear recoils near the detector threshold is one of the major challenges for large direct dark matter detectors. To that end, we have successfully used an Yttrium-Beryllium photoneutron source that emits 152 keV neutrons for the calibration of the light and charge yields of the XENONnT experiment for the first time. After data selection, we accumulated 474 events from 183 hours of exposure with this source. The expected background was accidental coincidence events, estimated using a dedicated 152 hour background calibration run with a Yttrium-PVC gamma-only source and data-driven modeling. From these calibrations, we extracted the light (charge) yield for liquid xenon at our field strength of between 0.3 (0.7) and . This calibration is crucial for accurately measuring the solar neutrino coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering and searching for light dark matter particles with masses below .more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available June 1, 2027
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We report on the search for x-ray radiation as predicted from dynamical quantum collapse with low-energy electronic recoil data in the energy range of 1–140 keV from the first science run of the XENONnT dark matter detector. Spontaneous radiation is an unavoidable effect of dynamical collapse models, which were introduced as a possible solution to the long-standing measurement problem in quantum mechanics. The analysis utilizes a model that for the first time accounts for cancellation effects in the emitted spectrum, which arise in the x-ray range due to the opposing electron-proton charges in xenon atoms. New world-leading limits on the free parameters of the Markovian continuous spontaneous localization and Diósi-Penrose models are set, improving previous best constraints by two orders of magnitude and a factor of five, respectively. For the strength and correlation length of the continuous spontaneous localization model, values in the originally proposed parameter ranges are experimentally excluded for the first time.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available March 1, 2027
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Abstract Radiogenic neutrons emitted by detector materials are one of the most challenging backgrounds for the direct search of dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). To mitigate this background, the XENONnT experiment is equipped with a novel gadolinium-doped water Cherenkov detector, which encloses the xenon dual-phase time projection chamber (TPC). The neutron veto (NV) can tag neutrons via their capture on gadolinium or hydrogen, which release$$\gamma $$ -rays that are subsequently detected as Cherenkov light. In this work, we present the first results of the XENONnT NV when operated with demineralized water only, before the insertion of gadolinium. Its efficiency for detecting neutrons is$$({82\pm 1}){\%}$$ , the highest neutron detection efficiency achieved in a water Cherenkov detector. This enables a high efficiency of$$({53\pm 3}){\%}$$ for the tagging of WIMP-like neutron signals, inside a tagging time window of$${250}~{\upmu }\hbox {s}$$ between TPC and NV, leading to a livetime loss of$${1.6}{\%}$$ during the first science run of XENONnT.more » « less
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Abstract CUPID, the CUORE Upgrade with Particle Identification, is a next-generation experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay ($$0\mathrm {\nu \beta \beta }$$ ) and other rare events using enriched Li$$_{2}$$ $$^{100}$$ MoO$$_{4}$$ scintillating bolometers. It will be hosted by the CUORE cryostat located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. The main physics goal of CUPID is to search for$$0\mathrm {\nu \beta \beta }$$ of$$^{100}$$ Mo with a discovery sensitivity covering the full neutrino mass regime in the inverted ordering scenario, as well as the portion of the normal ordering regime with lightest neutrino mass larger than 10 meV. With a conservative background index of 10$$^{-4}$$ cts$$/($$ keV$$\cdot $$ kg$$\cdot $$ yr$$)$$ , 240 kg isotope mass, 5 keV FWHM energy resolution at 3 MeV and 10 live-years of data taking, CUPID will have a 90% C.L. half-life exclusion sensitivity of$$1.8\cdot 10^{27}$$ yr, corresponding to an effective Majorana neutrino mass ($$m_{\beta \beta }$$ ) sensitivity of 9–15 meV, and a$$3\sigma $$ discovery sensitivity of$$1\cdot 10^{27}$$ yr, corresponding to an$$m_{\beta \beta }$$ range of 12–21 meV.more » « less
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The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is a detector array comprised by 988 crystals held below 20 mK, primarily searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay in . Unprecedented in size among cryogenic calorimetric experiments, CUORE provides a promising setting for the study of exotic throughgoing particles. Using the first tonne year of CUORE’s exposure, we perform a search for hypothesized (FCPs), which are well-motivated by various standard model extensions and would have suppressed interactions with matter. Across the searched range of charges no excess of FCP candidate tracks is observed over background, setting leading limits on the underground FCP flux with charges at 90% confidence level. Using the low background environment and segmented geometry of CUORE, we establish the sensitivity of tonne-scale subkelvin detectors to diverse signatures of new physics. Published by the American Physical Society2024more » « less
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We report on a blinded search for dark matter with single- and few-electron signals in the first science run of XENONnT relying on a novel detector response framework that is physics model dependent. We derive 90% confidence upper limits for dark matter-electron interactions. Heavy and light mediator cases are considered for the standard halo model and dark matter up-scattered in the Sun. We set stringent new limits on dark matter-electron scattering via a heavy mediator with a mass within and electron absorption of axionlike particles and dark photons for below . Published by the American Physical Society2025more » « less
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We report on a search for weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter (DM) via elastic DM-xenon-nucleus interactions in the XENONnT experiment. We combine datasets from the first and second science campaigns resulting in a total exposure of 3.1 tonne-years. In a blind analysis of nuclear recoil events with energies above 3.8 keVNR, we find no significant excess above background. We set new upper limits on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section for WIMP masses above 10 GeV/𝑐2 with a minimum of 1.7×10−47 cm2 at 90% confidence level for a WIMP mass of 30 GeV/𝑐2. We achieve a best median sensitivity of 1.4×10−47 cm2 for a 41 GeV/𝑐2 WIMP. Compared to the result from the first XENONnT science dataset, we improve our sensitivity by a factor of up to 1.8.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available November 24, 2026
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