Constraints on the decay of $^{180m}$Ta

Author:

I. J. Arnquist, F. T. Avignone III, A. S. Barabash, C. J. Barton, K. H. Bhimani, E. Blalock, B. Bos, M. Busch, M. Buuck, T. S. Caldwell, C. D. Christofferson, P. -H. Chu, M. L. Clark, C. Cuesta, J. A. Detwiler, Yu. Efremenko, H. Ejiri, S. R. Elliott, G. K. Giovanetti, J. Goett, M. P. Green, J. Gruszko, I. S. Guinn, V. E. Guiseppe, C. R. Haufe, R. Henning, D. Hervas Aguilar, E. W. Hoppe, A. Hostiuc, I. Kim, R. T. Kouzes, T. E. Lannen V, A. Li, J. M. Lopez-Castano, R. Massarczyk, S. J. Meijer, W. Meijer, T. K. Oli, L. S. Paudel, W. Pettus, A. W. P. Poon, D. C. Radford, A. L. Reine, K. Rielage, A. Rouyer, N. W. Ruof, D. C. Schaper, S. J. Schleich, T. A. Smith-Gandy, D. Tedeschi, R. L. Varner, S. Vasilyev, S. L. Watkins, J. F. Wilkerson, C. Wiseman, W. Xu, C. -H. Yu, D. S. M. Alves, H. Ramani

Keyword:

Nuclear Experiment, Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex), High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex)

journal:

date:

2023-06-02 16:00:00

Abstract

$^{180m}$Ta is a rare nuclear isomer whose decay has never been observed. Its remarkably long lifetime surpasses the half-lives of all other known $\beta$ and electron capture decays due to the large K-spin differences and small energy differences between the isomeric and lower energy states. Detecting its decay presents a significant experimental challenge but could shed light on neutrino-induced nucleosynthesis mechanisms, the nature of dark matter and K-spin violation. For this study, we repurposed the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR, an experimental search for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{76}$Ge using an array of high-purity germanium detectors, to search for the decay of $^{180m}$Ta. More than 17 kilograms, the largest amount of tantalum metal ever used for such a search was installed within the ultra-low background detector array. In this paper we present results from the first year of Ta data taking and provide an updated limit for the $^{180m}$Ta half-life on the different decay channels. With new limits up to 1.5 x $10^{19}$ years, we improved existing limits by one to two orders of magnitude. This result is the most sensitive search for a single $\beta$ and electron capture decay ever achieved.

PDF: Constraints on the decay of $^{180m}$Ta.pdf