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Results on Neutrinoless Double-β Decay of Ge76 from Phase I of the GERDA Experiment

M. Agostini et al. (GERDA Collaboration)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 122503 – Published 19 September 2013
Physics logo See Synopsis: Neutrinoless Decays Are a No Show Again

Abstract

Neutrinoless double beta decay is a process that violates lepton number conservation. It is predicted to occur in extensions of the standard model of particle physics. This Letter reports the results from phase I of the Germanium Detector Array (GERDA) experiment at the Gran Sasso Laboratory (Italy) searching for neutrinoless double beta decay of the isotope Ge76. Data considered in the present analysis have been collected between November 2011 and May 2013 with a total exposure of 21.6 kg yr. A blind analysis is performed. The background index is about 1×102counts/(keVkgyr) after pulse shape discrimination. No signal is observed and a lower limit is derived for the half-life of neutrinoless double beta decay of Ge76, T1/20ν>2.1×1025yr (90% C.L.). The combination with the results from the previous experiments with Ge76 yields T1/20ν>3.0×1025yr (90% C.L.).

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  • Received 17 July 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.122503

© 2013 American Physical Society

Synopsis

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Neutrinoless Decays Are a No Show Again

Published 19 September 2013

A new experiment sets more stringent limits on neutrinoless double beta decay, thus further constraining the possibility that the neutrino and antineutrino are the same particle

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Vol. 111, Iss. 12 — 20 September 2013

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