Speaker
Description
Baryon number violation, predicted by many GUT frameworks, motivates current searches for proton decay. The decay channel $\text{p} \rightarrow \text{K}^{+} + \bar{\nu}$, favored in many SUSY-GUT models, currently has a partial lifetime limit of $5.9 \times 10^{33}$ yr at 90 % C.L. set by the Super-Kamiokande collaboration. JUNO, a 20 kton liquid scintillator detector under commissioning in China, is expected to reach a sensitivity of $9.6 \times 10^{33}$ yr at 90 % C.L. with 200 kton$\times$yr exposure.
Efficient signal-background discrimination for this channel in JUNO relies on resolving the time-correlated double-peak signature from the kaon and its decay chain, in contrast to predominantly single-peak signatures from atmospheric neutrino backgrounds. The relative amplitude of the primary kaon peak is governed by quenching effects, modeled via Birks’ law and its Chou extension.
To characterize the scintillator response, the UniKaon setup was deployed at the Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center for proton beams with $\mathcal{O}(100 \text{ MeV})$ energies. Additionally, quenching of carbon ion beams was measured for the first time in a liquid scintillator context. This contribution presents the extracted Birks' parameters for protons and carbon ions in JUNO LS. Using constraints from atmospheric muon data from UniKaon, the kaon light emission behavior is extrapolated and implications for signal efficiency in $\text{p} \rightarrow \text{K}^{+} + \bar{\nu}$ searches are discussed. Beyond proton decay, these results inform the modeling of visible energy from atmospheric and supernova neutrino interactions.
| Collaboration you are representing | JUNO |
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