Gamma-induced background in the KATRIN main spectrometer
Abstract
The KATRIN experiment aims to measure the effective electron antineutrino mass with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV/c using a gaseous tritium source combined with the MAC-E filter technique. A low background rate is crucial to achieving the proposed sensitivity, and dedicated measurements have been performed to study possible sources of background electrons. In this work, we test the hypothesis that gamma radiation from external radioactive sources significantly increases the rate of background events created in the main spectrometer (MS) and observed in the focal-plane detector. Using detailed simulations of the gamma flux in the experimental hall, combined with a series of experimental tests that artificially increased or decreased the local gamma flux to the MS, we set an upper limit of 0.006 count/s (90% C.L.) from this mechanism. Our results indicate the effectiveness of the electrostatic and magnetic shielding used to block secondary electrons emitted from the inner surface of the MS.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1903.00563,
title = {Gamma-induced background in the KATRIN main spectrometer},
author = {K. Altenmüller and M. Arenz and W. -J. Baek and M. Beck and A. Beglarian and J. Behrens and A. Berlev and U. Besserer and K. Blaum and F. Block and S. Bobien and T. Bode and B. Bornschein and L. Bornschein and H. Bouquet and T. Brunst and N. Buzinsky and S. Chilingaryan and W. Q. Choi and M. Deffert and P. J. Doe and O. Dragoun and G. Drexlin and S. Dyba and K. Eitel and E. Ellinger and R. Engel and S. Enomoto and M. Erhard and D. Eversheim and M. Fedkevych and J. A. Formaggio and F. M. Fränkle and G. B. Franklin and F. Friedel and A. Fulst and W. Gil and F. Glück and A. Gonzalez Ureña and R. Grössle and R. Gumbsheimer and M. Hackenjos and V. Hannen and F. Harms and N. Haußmann and F. Heizmann and K. Helbing and W. Herz and S. Hickford and D. Hilk and D. Hillesheimer and M. A. Howe and A. Huber and A. Jansen and C. Karl and J. Kellerer and N. Kernert and L. Kippenbrock and M. Klein and A. Kopmann and M. Korzeczek and A. Kovalík and B. Krasch and A. Kraus and M. Kraus and T. Lasserre and O. Lebeda and B. Lehnert and J. Letnev and A. Lokhov and M. Machatschek and A. Marsteller and E. L. Martin and S. Mertens and S. Mirz and B. Monreal and H. Neumann and S. Niemes and A. Osipowicz and E. Otten and D. S. Parno and A. Pollithy and A. W. P. Poon and F. Priester and P. C. -O. Ranitzsch and O. Rest and R. G. H. Robertson and C. Rodenbeck and M. Röllig and C. Röttele and M. Ryšavý and R. Sack and A. Saenz and L. Schimpf and K. Schlösser and M. Schlösser and L. Schlüter and M. Schrank and H. Seitz-Moskaliuk and V. Sibille and M. Slezák and M. Steidl and N. Steinbrink and M. Sturm and M. Suchopar and D. Tcherniakhovski and H. H. Telle and L. A. Thorne and T. Thümmler and N. Titov and I. Tkachev and N. Trost and K. Valerius and D. Vénos and R. Vianden and A. P. Vizcaya Hernández and M. Weber and C. Weinheimer and C. Weiss and S. Welte and J. Wendel and J. F. Wilkerson and J. Wolf and S. Wüstling and S. Zadoroghny and G. Zeller},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1903.00563},
year = {2019}
}