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Abstract Dual-phase liquid xenon time projection chambers are the core detector elements of many experiments that conduct searches for Dark Matter and rare events, as well as in neutrino and high-energy physics. As part of this detector technology, high-voltage electrodes are instrumental for the generation of observable signals and their physical interpretation. Thus, electrode design and manufacturing has to fulfill stringent requirements, and their production is associated with significant engineering challenges. In this work we describe the successful development of electrodes on the 1.5 m-scale, from their design and simulation to subsequent assembly and high-voltage testing in a gaseous argon environment. The produced electrodes were recently installed as an anode and a cathode during an upgrade to the XENONnT experiment. 

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. 

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$$\gamma $$ $\gamma$-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$$({82\pm 1}){\%}$$ $\left(82\pm 1\right)\%$, the highest neutron detection efficiency achieved in a water Cherenkov detector. This enables a high efficiency of$$({53\pm 3}){\%}$$ $\left(53\pm 3\right)\%$for the tagging of WIMP-like neutron signals, inside a tagging time window of$${250}~{\upmu }\hbox {s}$$ $250\mu \text{s}$between TPC and NV, leading to a livetime loss of$${1.6}{\%}$$ $1.6\%$during the first science run of XENONnT. 

For a graph F, a graph G is F-free if it does not contain an induced subgraph isomorphic to F. For two graphs G and H, an H-coloring of G is a mapping f : V (G) → V (H) such that for every edge uv ∈ E(G) it holds that f(u)f(v) ∈ E(H). We are interested in the complexity of the problem H-Coloring, which asks for the existence of an H-coloring of an input graph G. In particular, we consider H-Coloring of F-free graphs, where F is a fixed graph and H is an odd cycle of length at least 5. This problem is closely related to the well known open problem of determining the complexity of 3-Coloring of Pt-free graphs. We show that for every odd k ≥ 5 the Ck-Coloring problem, even in the precoloring-extension variant, can be solved in polynomial time in P9-free graphs. On the other hand, we prove that the extension version of Ck-Coloring is NP-complete for F-free graphs whenever some component of F is not a subgraph of a subdivided claw. 

To enhance equity and diversity in undergraduate biology, recent research in biology education focuses on best practices that reduce learning barriers for all students and improve academic performance. However, the majority of current research into student experiences in introductory biology takes place at large, predominantly White institutions. To foster contextual knowledge in biology education research, we harnessed data from a large research coordination network to examine the extent of academic performance gaps based on demographic status across institutional contexts and how two psychological factors, test anxiety and ethnicity stigma consciousness, may mediate performance in introductory biology. We used data from seven institutions across three institution types: 2-year community colleges, 4-year inclusive institutions (based on admissions selectivity; hereafter, inclusive), and 4-year selective institutions (hereafter, selective). In our sample, we did not observe binary gender gaps across institutional contexts, but found that performance gaps based on underrepresented minority status were evident at inclusive and selective 4-year institutions, but not at community colleges. Differences in social psychological factors and their impacts on academic performance varied substantially across institutional contexts. Our findings demonstrate that institutional context can play an important role in the mechanisms underlying performance gaps. 

The XENONnT experiment has achieved an exceptionally low 222 Rn activity concentration within its inner 5.9 tonne liquid xenon detector of (0.90±0.02 stat±0.07 syst)  μ⁢Bq kg−1, equivalent to about 430 222 Rn atoms per tonne of xenon. This was achieved by active online radon removal via cryogenic distillation after stringent material selection. The achieved 222 Rn activity concentration is 5 times lower than that in other currently operational multitonne liquid xenon detectors engaged in dark matter searches. This breakthrough enables the pursuit of various rare event searches that lie beyond the confines of the standard model of particle physics, with world-leading sensitivity. The ultralow 222 Rn levels have diminished the radon-induced background rate in the detector to a point where it is for the first time comparable to the solar neutrino-induced background, which is poised to become the primary irreducible background in liquid xenon-based detectors. 

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 $10–20\mathrm{MeV}/c^2$and electron absorption of axionlike particles and dark photons for $m_{\chi }$below $0.03\mathrm{keV}/c^2$. Published by the American Physical Society2025