Investigating the XENON1T low-energy electronic recoil excess using NEST

Abstract

The search for dark matter, the missing mass of the Universe, is one of the most active fields of study within particle physics. The XENON1T experiment recently observed a 3.5σ excess potentially consistent with dark matter, or with solar axions. Here, we will use the Noble Element Simulation Technique (NEST) software to simulate the XENON1T detector, reproducing the excess. We utilize different detector efficiency and energy reconstruction models, but they primarily impact sub-keV energies and cannot explain the XENON1T excess. However, using NEST, we can reproduce their excess in multiple, unique ways, most easily via the addition of 31±11 Ar37 decays. Furthermore, this results in new, modified background models, reducing the significance of the excess to ≤2.2σ at least using non-Profile Likelihood Ratio (PLR) methods. This is independent confirmation that the excess is a real effect, but potentially explicable by known physics. Many cross-checks of our Ar37 hypothesis are presented.