The background in the $$0\nu \beta \beta $$ 0 ν β β experiment Gerda

Abstract

The GERmanium Detector Array (Gerda) experiment at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory (LNGS) of INFN is searching for neutrinoless double beta (\(0\nu \beta \beta \)) decay of \(^{76}\)Ge. The signature of the signal is a monoenergetic peak at 2039 keV, the \(Q_{\beta \beta }\) value of the decay. To avoid bias in the signal search, the present analysis does not consider all those events, that fall in a 40 keV wide region centered around \(Q_{\beta \beta }\). The main parameters needed for the \(0\nu \beta \beta \) analysis are described. A background model was developed to describe the observed energy spectrum. The model contains several contributions, that are expected on the basis of material screening or that are established by the observation of characteristic structures in the energy spectrum. The model predicts a flat energy spectrum for the blinding window around \(Q_{\beta \beta }\) with a background index ranging from 17.6 to 23.8 \(\times \) \(10^{-3}\) cts/(keV kg yr). A part of the data not considered before has been used to test if the predictions of the background model are consistent. The observed number of events in this energy region is consistent with the background model. The background at \(Q_{\beta \beta }\) is dominated by close sources, mainly due to \(^{42}\)K, \(^{214}\)Bi, \(^{228}\)Th, \(^{60}\)Co and \(\alpha \) emitting isotopes from the \(^{226}\)Ra decay chain. The individual fractions depend on the assumed locations of the contaminants. It is shown, that after removal of the known \(\gamma \) peaks, the energy spectrum can be fitted in an energy range of 200 keV around \(Q_{\beta \beta }\) with a constant background. This gives a background index consistent with the full model and uncertainties of the same size.