Search for the proton decay p→K+ν¯ in the large liquid scintillator low energy neutrino astronomy detector LENA

作者：T. Marrodán Undagoitia, F. von Feilitzsch, Marianne Göger-Neff, C. Grieb, Kathrin A. Hochmuth, L. Oberauer, W. Potzel, Matthias Christian Wurm · 发表于：Physical review. D. Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology/Physical review. D. Particles and fields · 年份：2005 · DOI：10.1103/physrevd.72.075014 · 被引用次数：44 · 研究领域：Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies、Neutrino Physics Research、Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena

The LENA (Low Energy Neutrino Astronomy) detector is proposed to be a large-volume liquid-scintillator device which will be highly suitable for the investigation of a variety of topics in astrophysics, geophysics and particle physics. In this paper, the potential of such a detector concerning the search for proton decay in the SUSY favored decay channel $p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{K}^{+}\overline{\ensuremath{\nu}}$ is investigated. Based on Geant4, Monte Carlo simulations of the proton decay in the LENA detector as well as of the background radiation in the detection energy windows have been developed. From these simulations an efficiency of $65%$ for the detection of a possible proton decay has been determined. Within ten years of measuring time a lower limit for the proton lifetime, concerning the decay channel investigated, of $\ensuremath{\tau}>4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{34}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{y}$ could be reached.