Journal Article

PandaX-xT—A deep underground multi-ten-tonne liquid xenon observatory

Wu, Weihao, Zhang, Shibo, Wu, Mengmeng, Guo, Xuyuan, Wang, Xu, Yu, Chunxu, Lu, Xiaoying, He, Jinrong, Lu, Congcong, Han, Ke, Si, Lin, Zeng, Xinning, Ju, Yonglin, Wang, Meng, Zhou, Ning, Zhou, Xiaopeng, Lin, Qing, Zhou, Jifang, Xiao, Mengjiao, Geng, Lisheng, Li, Chenxiang, Li, Tao, Shao, Xiyuan, Yuan, Ying, Wu, Yuan, Ji, Xiangdong, Li, Jiafu, Abdukerim, Abdusalam, Fang, Deqing, Shang, Xiaofeng, Luo, Yunyang, Mao, Yajun, Wang, Shaobo, Chen, Xun, Gu, Linhui, Luo, Lingyin, Cui, Xiangyi, Hou, Ruquan, Yan, Binbin, Guo, Xunan, Yan, Xiyu, Zhang, Yang, Huang, Junting, Zhang, Minzhen, Liu, Jianglai, Yuan, Zhe, Shaheed, Nasir, Wang, Qiuhong, Wang, Zhou, Zhang, Peng, Huang, Zhou, Wang, Wei, Cheng, Zhaokan, Zhang, Yuanyuan, Wei, Yuehuan, Pang, Binyu, Han, Chencheng, Sun, Wenliang, Zhou, Yubo, Zhou, Zhizhen, Wang, Xiuli, Cheng, Chen, Li, Mingchuan, Guo, Zhichao, Xiao, Xiang, Qian, Zhicheng, Fan, Yingjie, Yang, Yong, Zhang, Tao, Tao, Yi, Yun, Youhui, Zhao, Li, Shen, Guofang, Zhang, Wei, Zhang, Yingxin, Giboni, Karl, Ma, Wenbo, Zhou, Yong, Chen, Wei, Hou, Yu, Wang, Anqing, Ning, Xuyang, Ma, Yugang, Qi, Ningchun, He, Changda, Wang, Siguang, Huang, Di, Meng, Yue, Ren, Xiangxi

2025

Overview

We propose a major upgrade to the existing PandaX-4T experiment at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory. The new experiment, PandaX-xT, will be a multi-ten-tonne liquid xenon, ultra-low background, and general-purpose observatory. The full-scaled PandaX-xT contains a 43-t liquid xenon active target. Such an experiment will significantly advance our fundamental understanding of particle physics and astrophysics. The sensitivity of dark matter direct detection will be improved by nearly two orders of magnitude compared to the current best limits, approaching the so-called “neutrino floor” for a dark matter mass above 10 GeV/c 2 , providing a key test to the Weakly Interacting Massive Particle paradigm. By searching for the neutrinoless double beta decay of 136 Xe isotope in the detector, the effective Majorana neutrino mass can be measured to a 10–41 meV/c 2 sensitivity, providing a key test to the Dirac/Majorana nature of neutrinos. Astrophysical neutrinos and other ultra-rare interactions can also be measured and searched for with an unprecedented background level, opening up new windows of discovery. Depending on the findings, PandaX-xT will seek the next stage upgrade utilizing isotopic separation of natural xenon.

• Publisher: Science China Press,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Astronomy / Beta decay / Beta rays / Classical and Continuum Physics / Dark matter / Neutrinos / Observations and Techniques / Observatories / Particle decay / Particle physics / Physics / Physics and Astronomy / Sensitivity / Target detection / Weakly interacting massive particles / Windows (computer programs) / Xenon