Search for Neutrinoless Double-β Decay in Ge<mml:mprescripts/><mml:none/>76 with the Majorana Demonstrator

2017/10/31 by C. E. Aalseth, C.E. Aalseth, N. Abgrall +145 · 188 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Algorithm #Computer science #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Mathematics #Neutrino Physics Research #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #nucl-ex #physics.ins-det

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.120.132502

published in Physical Review Letters 120(13), 132502 (American Physical Society) · typos fixed

openalex created_date 2017/11/10 · openalex publication_date 2018/03/26 · arxiv created 2018/03/27 · arxiv updated 2018/04/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

The Majorana Collaboration is operating an array of high purity Ge detectors to search for neutrinoless double-β decay in ⁷⁶Ge. The Majorana Demonstrator comprises 44.1 kg of Ge detectors (29.7 kg enriched in ⁷⁶Ge) split between two modules contained in a low background shield at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. Here we present results from data taken during construction, commissioning, and the start of full operations. We achieve unprecedented energy resolution of 2.5 keV FWHM at Q_ββ and a very low background with no observed candidate events in 9.95 kg yr of enriched Ge exposure, resulting in a lower limit on the half-life of 1.9×10²⁵ yr (90% C.L.). This result constrains the effective Majorana neutrino mass to below 240-520 meV, depending on the matrix elements used. In our experimental configuration with the lowest background, the background is 4.0_-2.5^+3.1 counts/(FWHM t yr).

Citations

• Status and prospects of searches for neutrinoless double beta decay
• Measurement of the Total Active 8B Solar Neutrino Flux at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory with Enhanced Neutral Current Sensitivity
• Large-mass ultralow noise germanium detectors: performance and applications in neutrino and astroparticle physics
• NEUTRINO-LESS DOUBLE BETA DECAY AND PARTICLE PHYSICS
• Neutrinoless double-βdecay in SU(2)×U(1) theories
• Search for Majorana Neutrinos near the Inverted Mass Hierarchy Region with KamLAND-Zen
• Review of Multibody Charm Analyses

Cited by

• Dirac neutrino mass generation from a Majorana messenger
• The Majorana Demonstrator Status and Preliminary Results
• Search for Neutrinoless Double-βDecay with the Complete EXO-200 Dataset
• TeV-scale resonant leptogenesis with new scaling ansatz on neutrino Dirac mass matrix from A4 flavor symmetry