Spatial methods for event reconstruction in CLEAN

Abstract

In CLEAN (Cryogenic Low Energy Astrophysics with Noble gases), a proposed neutrino and dark matter detector, background discrimination is possible if one can determine the location of an ionizing radiation event with high accuracy. We simulate ionizing radiation events that produce multiple scintillation photons within a spherical detection volume filled with liquid neon. We estimate the radial location of a particular ionizing radiation event based on the observed count data corresponding to that event. The count data are collected by detectors mounted at the spherical boundary of the detection volume. We neglect absorption, but account for Rayleigh scattering. To account for wavelength-shifting of the scintillation light, we assume that photons are absorbed and re-emitted at the detectors. Here, we develop spatial Maximum Likelihood methods for event reconstruction, and study their performance in computer simulation experiments. We also study a method based on the centroid of the observed count data. We calibrate our estimates based on training data.