https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-023-11354-9
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
Liquid argon light collection and veto modeling in GERDA Phase II
1
INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Assergi, Italy
2
INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso and Gran Sasso Science Institute, Assergi, Italy
3
INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso and Università degli Studi dell’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy
4
INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania, Italy
5
Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland
6
Institut für Kern- und Teilchenphysik, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
7
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Russia
8
European Commission, JRC-Geel, Geel, Belgium
9
Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany
10
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, UK
11
INFN Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
12
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano and INFN Milano, Milan, Italy
13
Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
14
Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, NRC “Kurchatov Institute”, Moscow, Russia
15
National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”, Moscow, Russia
16
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, Munich, Germany
17
Physik Department, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
18
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padua, Italy
19
INFN Padova, Padua, Italy
20
Physikalisches Institut, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
21
Physik-Institut, Universität Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
22
Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
23
Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung, Berlin, Germany
24
Nuclear Science Division, Berkeley, USA
25
Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405, Orsay, France
26
NRNU MEPhI, Moscow, Russia
27
Moscow Inst. of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Russia
28
Dubna State University, Dubna, Russia
Received:
12
December
2022
Accepted:
24
February
2023
Published online:
24
April
2023
The ability to detect liquid argon scintillation light from within a densely packed high-purity germanium detector array allowed the Gerda experiment to reach an exceptionally low background rate in the search for neutrinoless double beta decay of 
Ge. Proper modeling of the light propagation throughout the experimental setup, from any origin in the liquid argon volume to its eventual detection by the novel light read-out system, provides insight into the rejection capability and is a necessary ingredient to obtain robust background predictions. In this paper, we present a model of the Gerda liquid argon veto, as obtained by Monte Carlo simulations and constrained by calibration data, and highlight its application for background decomposition.
© The Author(s) 2023
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Funded by SCOAP3. SCOAP3 supports the goals of the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development.
