NEST (Noble Element Simulation Technique) is an unprecedentedly comprehensive, accurate, and precise simulation of the excitation, ionization, and corresponding scintillation and electroluminescence processes in liquid noble elements, useful for direct dark matter detectors, double beta decay searches, PET scans, and general radiation detection technology. NEST has been verified as robust against a long list of past experimental results. Read more on the About NEST page.
To join the NEST e-mail listhost sign up here: http://solid.physics.ucdavis.edu/mailman/listinfo/nest
Download the software package on the Download NEST page. You must read and accept certain terms (mostly, to cite us and list any code changes you make in your published works).
To use NEST and then publish results from your experiment where you compare with it, you must cite the DOI link provided by Zenodo (https://zenodo.org/record/1314
- Geant4 Developments and Applications, J. Allison et al., IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science 53 No. 1 (2006) 270-278.
- Geant4 - A Simulation Toolkit, S. Agostinelli et al., Nuclear Instruments and Methods A 506 (2003) 250-303.
Analysis Reports
- June 2019 — A Comprehensive, Exhaustive, Complete Analysis of World LXe NR Data With a Final Model
- August 2019 — Heavy Ions and Generalized Nuclear Recoils in Xenon with NEST v2.0
- August 2020 — NEST liquid argon mean yields note
Publications and Presentations
NEST Papers:
- Szydagis et al., NEST: A Comprehensive Model for Scintillation Yield in Liquid Xenon, 2011 JINST 6 P10002; e-Print: arXiv:1106.1613 [physics.ins-det]
- Szydagis et al., Enhancement of NEST Capabilities for Simulating Low–Energy Recoils in Liquid Xenon, 2013 JINST 8 C10003; e-Print: arXiv:1307.6601 [physics.ins-det and astro-ph.IM]
- J. Mock et al., Modeling Pulse Characteristics in Xenon with NEST, 2014 JINST 9 T04002; e-Print: arXiv:1310.1117 [physics.ins-det]
- B. Lenardo et al., A Global Analysis of Light and Charge Yields in Liquid Xenon, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Volume: 62, Issue: 6, Dec. 2015); e-Print: arXiv:1412.4417 [astro-ph.IM and physics.ins-det]
- M. Szydagis et al., A Review of NEST Models, and Their Application to Improvement of Particle Identification in Liquid Xenon Experiments: PDF
Here are some slides of talks that have been given describing the NEST software (though the first two date back to when NEST did not yet have a name):
- November 30, 2022 - CPAD Workshop 2022, Stony Brook University
- April 17, 2021 - APS Physics April Meeting 2021, Virtual
- March 18, 2021 - CPAD Instrumentation Frontier Workshop 2021
- April 20, 2020 - APS Physics April Meeting 2020, Virtual
- August 30, 2019 - Light Detection in Noble Elements (LIDINE2019), Manchester
- August 26, 2019 - 19th Lomonosov Conference on Elementary Particle Physics, Moscow
- April 12, 2019 - 16th Baksan School on Astroparticle Physics, Baksan Valley
- December 10, 2018 - New Technologies for Discovery IV: The 2018 CPAD Instrumentation Frontier Workshop, Providence, Rhode Island
- October 23, 2018 - IV International Conference on Particle Physics and Astrophysics (ICPPA2018), Moscow
- September 20, 2018 - The 4th International Conference on Science, Application, and Technology of Xenon Radiation Detectors, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
- July 25, 2018 - International Dark Matter (IDM) Conference, Brown University, Rhode Island
- December 2, 2017 - NorCal HEP-EX, SLAC, Stanford, California
- October 13, 2017 - The 2017 CPAD Instrumentation Frontier Workshop, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
- September 24, 2015 - Low Energy Calibration Workshop, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
- August 30, 2015 - Light Detection in Noble Elements (LIDINE) Conference, UAlbany, New York
- March 19, 2015 - Low Radioactivity Techniques, University of Washington, Seattle
- February 18, 2015 - University of Maryland College Park seminar
- November 10, 2014 - IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium, Seattle, WA
- October 23, 2014 - Low Energy Particle Physics with Liquid Xenon Detectors, Moscow
- June 4, 2014 - University Industry Technology Interchange, Walnut Creek, CA
- March 21, 2014 - AARM Collaboration Meeting and Workshop, Fermilab
- February 28, 2014 - UCLA Dark Matter 2014 Conference
- January 21, 2014 - SLAC seminar
- December 9, 2013 - University of Connecticut Seminar
- November 8, 2013 - Stanford University seminar for the EXO Group
- October 9, 2013 - UCLA Weekly HEP Seminar
- June 5, 2013 - University Industry Technology Interchange, Lansing, MI
- May 29, 2013 - Light Detection in Noble Elements (LIDINE) Workshop, Fermilab
- May 11, 2013 - Advances in Neutrino Technology (ANT) Conference, Lake Tahoe
- April 13, 2013 A - APS Meeting, Denver, CO: General NEST Talk
- April 13, 2013 B - APS Meeting, Denver, CO: Energy resolution
- April 13, 2013 C - APS Meeting, Denver, CO: Pulse shape simulation
- March 21, 2013 - LAr Software Workshop pre-LBNE Meeting, Fermilab
- March 4, 2013 - Stanford University (NEST is on Slides 11-15 only)
- February 2, 2013 - Santa Fe, New Mexico LANL Liquid Ar TPC (CAPTAIN) Meeting
- January 14, 2013 - Brookhaven National Laboratory (Meeting via Phone)
- December 13, 2012 - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Seminar
- August 23, 2012 - Berkeley Lab Instrumentation Brown Bag Lunch Talk
- June 22, 2012 — AARM Collaboration Meeting and Workshop in MN
- November 11, 2011 — AARM Workshop at University of Minnesota
- September 20, 2011 — Special colloquium, SJTU University, Shanghai, China
- April 14, 2011 — Cosmogenic Activity and Backgrounds Workshop in Berkeley, LBNL
- February 25, 2011 — DUSEL AARM Collaboration Meeting in Minneapolis
NEST Posters: