Is DAMA Bathing in a Sea of Radioactive Argon?
D. N. McKinsey

TL;DR
This paper hypothesizes that argon impurities in DAMA/LIBRA's nitrogen purge gas could cause a modulating 2.8 keV background, potentially explaining the long-standing DAMA/LIBRA puzzle.
Contribution
It introduces a novel hypothesis linking argon impurities in the purge gas to the observed modulation signal in DAMA/LIBRA.
Findings
Argon impurities can produce a 2.8 keV background via decay of 37Ar.
Radon in the purge gas may modulate background signals seasonally.
Testing methods include gas assay and laboratory studies of detector housings.
Abstract
A hypothesis is proposed to explain the long-standing DAMA/LIBRA puzzle. Introduced into the DAMA/LIBRA shielding is a purge gas of nominally high-purity nitrogen, which under this hypothesis contains argon impurities. Argon is introduced into the nitrogen purge gas either through leaks in the purge gas plumbing, or through commercially-supplied bottled nitrogen, diffuses through materials in the detector housings, and then comes in direct contact with the DAMA/LIBRA detectors. These argon impurities can then lead to a modulating 2.8 keV background under two scenarios. Scenario 1): These impurities include the isotope 37Ar, which decays by electron capture, emitting a 2.8 keV x-ray. These decays appear as single-site, monoenergetic events in DAMA/LIBRA, and produce an annual modulation due to the variation of neutron flux in the atmosphere and at the Earth's surface, which in turn leads…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAncient Egypt and Archaeology
