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First Results from CUORE: A Search for Lepton Number Violation via 0νββ Decay of Te130

C. Alduino et al. (CUORE Collaboration)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 132501 – Published 26 March 2018
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Abstract

The CUORE experiment, a ton-scale cryogenic bolometer array, recently began operation at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. The array represents a significant advancement in this technology, and in this work we apply it for the first time to a high-sensitivity search for a lepton-number-violating process: Te130 neutrinoless double-beta decay. Examining a total TeO2 exposure of 86.3 kg yr, characterized by an effective energy resolution of (7.7±0.5)keV FWHM and a background in the region of interest of (0.014±0.002)counts/(keVkgyr), we find no evidence for neutrinoless double-beta decay. Including systematic uncertainties, we place a lower limit on the decay half-life of T1/20ν(Te130)>1.3×1025yr (90% C.L.); the median statistical sensitivity of this search is 7.0×1024yr. Combining this result with those of two earlier experiments, Cuoricino and CUORE-0, we find T1/20ν(Te130)>1.5×1025yr (90% C.L.), which is the most stringent limit to date on this decay. Interpreting this result as a limit on the effective Majorana neutrino mass, we find mββ<(110520)  meV, where the range reflects the nuclear matrix element estimates employed.

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  • Received 23 October 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.132501

© 2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Particles & FieldsNuclear Physics

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The Hunt for No Neutrinos

Published 26 March 2018

Four experiments have demonstrated new levels of sensitivity to neutrinoless double-beta decay, a process whose existence would prove that neutrinos are their own antiparticles.

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See Also

Search for Neutrinoless Double-β Decay in Ge76 with the Majorana Demonstrator

C. E. Aalseth et al. (Majorana Collaboration)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 132502 (2018)

Improved Limit on Neutrinoless Double-β Decay of Ge76 from GERDA Phase II

M. Agostini et al. (GERDA Collaboration)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 132503 (2018)

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Vol. 120, Iss. 13 — 30 March 2018

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