Probing Majorana neutrinos with double-b decay.
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| Title: | Probing Majorana neutrinos with double-b decay. |
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| Authors: | Agostini, M., Bakalyarov, A. M., Balata, M., Barabanov, I., Baudis, L., Bauer, C., Bellotti, E., Belogurov, S., Bettini, A., Bezrukov, L., Borowicz, D., Brudanin, V., Brugnera, R., Caldwell, A., Cattadori, C., Chernogorov, A., Comellato, T., D’Andrea, V., Demidova, E. V., Di Marco, N. |
| Source: | Science (pre-March 2025). 9/27/2019, Vol. 365 Issue 6460, p1445-1448. 4p. 3 Diagrams, 1 Chart. |
| Subjects: | Majorana fermions, Double beta decay, Neutrons, Particle physics, Metaphysical cosmology, Antimatter |
| Abstract: | A discovery that neutrinos are Majorana fermions would have profound implications for particle physics and cosmology. The Majorana character of neutrinos would make possible the neutrinoless double-b (0nbb) decay, a matter-creating process without the balancing emission of antimatter. The GERDA Collaboration searches for the 0nbb decay of 76Ge by operating bare germanium detectors in an active liquid argon shield. With a total exposure of 82.4 kg⋅year, we observe no signal and derive a lower half-life limit of T1/2 > 0.9 × 1026 years (90% C.L.). Our T1/2 sensitivity, assuming no signal, is 1.1 × 1026 years. Combining the latter with those from other 0nbb decay searches yields a sensitivity to the effective Majorana neutrino mass of 0.07 to 0.16 electron volts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | A discovery that neutrinos are Majorana fermions would have profound implications for particle physics and cosmology. The Majorana character of neutrinos would make possible the neutrinoless double-b (0nbb) decay, a matter-creating process without the balancing emission of antimatter. The GERDA Collaboration searches for the 0nbb decay of 76Ge by operating bare germanium detectors in an active liquid argon shield. With a total exposure of 82.4 kg⋅year, we observe no signal and derive a lower half-life limit of T1/2 > 0.9 × 1026 years (90% C.L.). Our T1/2 sensitivity, assuming no signal, is 1.1 × 1026 years. Combining the latter with those from other 0nbb decay searches yields a sensitivity to the effective Majorana neutrino mass of 0.07 to 0.16 electron volts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 00368075 |
| DOI: | 10.1126/science.aav8613 |
