Erlangen 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 103: Search for Dark Matter IV

T 103.1: Vortrag

Freitag, 20. März 2026, 09:00–09:15, AM 00.014

Simulations of the MainzTPC2 to observe the Migdal effect — •Peter Gyorgy, Alexander Deisting, Christopher Hils, Johannes Merz, Uwe Oberlack, and Constantin Szyszka — Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Institut für Physik & Exzellenzcluster PRISMA+

The MainzTPC2 is a small-scale dual-phase xenon time projection chamber (TPC), destined to make a measurement that could prove the Migdal effect for Xe atoms. The Migdal effect manifests in the form of an additional electron recoil signature paired with the typical nuclear recoil signal that an elastic scatter e.g. a neutron or WIMP produces. For large dual-phase TPCs --- like XENONnT, XLZD --- this effect would decrease their detection threshold, extending their sensitivity to lower dark matter masses.

To ensure the success of the experiment, a detailed simulation must be made of the MainzTPC2. This requires extensive modeling and simulations in GEANT4, including neutron scattering, detector effects, optical physics, position reconstruction, and a Migdal signal model.

The measurement itself is expected to take place at the CN facility at LNL, Italy, in the form of neutrons from a beam undergoing an elastic backscatter off the TPC into a secondary scintillator detector. As such, beam characteristics and neutron flight paths must also be modeled. The use of data quality cuts such as time-of-flight and neutron multi-scatter is expected to reduce the background sufficiently to obtain a clear population of Migdal events in their region of interest. This presentation will summarize results from this simulation process.

Keywords: MainzTPC2; dual-phase xenon TPC; Migdal effect