Recent experimental activity on heavy-ion induced reactions within the NUMEN project

The possibility to use a special class of heavy-ion induced direct reactions, such as double charge exchange reactions, is discussed in view of their application to extract information that may be helpful to determinate the nuclear matrix elements entering in the expression of neutrinoless double beta decay half-life. The strategies adopted in the experimental campaigns performed at INFN - Laboratori Nazionali del Sud are briefly described, emphasizing the advantages of the multi-channel approach to nuclear reaction data analysis.

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Recent results on heavy-ion induced reactions of interest for neutrinoless double beta decay at INFN-LNS

EPJ Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/epjconf/201922301009 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 223 ◽

pp. 01009

Author(s):

Manuela Cavallaro ◽

Luis Acosta ◽

Clementina Agodi ◽

Carmen Altana ◽

Paulina Amador-Valenzuela ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Beta Decay ◽

Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay ◽

Heavy Ion ◽

Double Beta Decay ◽

Exchange Reactions ◽

Double Charge Exchange ◽

Experimental Campaign ◽

Direct Reactions ◽

Double Charge ◽

Extract Information

The possibility to use a special class of heavy-ion induced direct reactions, such as double charge exchange reactions, is discussed in view of their application to extract information that may be helpful to determinate the nuclear matrix elements entering in the expression of neutrinoless double beta decay half-life. The methodology of the experimental campaign presently running at INFN - Laboratori Nazionali del Sud is reported andthe experimental challenges characterizing such activity are described.

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The NUMEN Project: An Update of the Facility Toward the Future Experimental Campaigns

Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences ◽

10.3389/fspas.2021.668587 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Francesco Cappuzzello ◽

Luis Acosta ◽

Clementina Agodi ◽

Ismail Boztosun ◽

Giuseppe A. Brischetto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cross Sections ◽

Heavy Ion ◽

Double Beta Decay ◽

Reaction Products ◽

Exchange Reactions ◽

Double Charge Exchange ◽

Detection Systems ◽

Superconducting Cyclotron ◽

Experimental Yield ◽

Double Charge

The goal of NUMEN project is to access experimentally driven information on Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME) involved in the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) by accurate measurements of the cross sections of heavy-ion induced double charge-exchange reactions. In particular, the (18O, 18Ne) and (20Ne, 20O) reactions are adopted as tools for β+β+ and β−β− decays, respectively. The experiments are performed at INFN–Laboratory Nazionali del Sud (LNS) in Catania using the Superconducting Cyclotron to accelerate the beams and the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer to detect the reaction products. The measured cross sections are very low, limiting the present exploration to few selected isotopes of interest in the context of typically low-yield experimental runs. In order to make feasible a systematic study of all the candidate nuclei, a major upgrade of the LNS facility is foreseen to increase the experimental yield by more than two orders of magnitude. To this purpose, frontier technologies are being developed for both the accelerator and the detection systems. An update description of the NUMEN project is presented here, focusing on recent achievements from the R&D activity.

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The nuclear matrix elements of 0νββ decay and the NUMEN project at INFN-LNS

EPJ Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/epjconf/201819402001 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 194 ◽

pp. 02001 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

D. Carbone ◽

F. Cappuzzello ◽

C. Agodi ◽

M. Cavallaro ◽

L. Acosta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cross Sections ◽

Nuclear Matrix ◽

Theoretical Models ◽

Heavy Ion ◽

Double Beta Decay ◽

Matrix Elements ◽

Reaction Products ◽

Structure Information ◽

Double Charge Exchange ◽

Double Charge

The goal of NUMEN project is to access experimentally driven information on Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME) involved in the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ), by high-accuracy measurements of the cross sections of Heavy Ion (HI) induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reactions. The knowledge of the nuclear matrix elements is crucial to infer the neutrino average masses from the possible measurement of the half-life of 00νββ decay and to compare experiments on different isotopes. In particular, the (18O, 18Ne) and (20Ne, 20O) reactions are performed as tools for β+β+ and β-β- decays, respectively. The experiments are performed at INFN - Laboratory Nazionali del Sud (LNS) in Catania using the Superconducting Cyclotron (CS) to accelerate the beams and the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer to detect the reaction products. The measured cross sections are very low, limiting the present exploration to few selected isotopes of interest in the context of typically low-yield experimental runs. In order to make feasible a systematic study of all the candidate nuclei, a major upgrade of the LNS facility is foreseen to increase the experimental yield of about two orders of magnitude. To this purpose, frontier technologies are going to be developed for both the accelerator and the detection systems. In parallel, advanced theoretical models will be developed to extract the nuclear structure information from the measured cross sections.

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Double charge exchange reactions as a probe for neutrinoless double beta decay nuclear matrix elements

Journal of Physics Conference Series ◽

10.1088/1742-6596/1610/1/012013 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1610 ◽

pp. 012013

Author(s):

E. Santopinto ◽

J. Ferretti ◽

H. García-Tecocoatzi ◽

R. Magana Vsevolodovna

Keyword(s):

Beta Decay ◽

Charge Exchange ◽

Nuclear Matrix ◽

Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay ◽

Double Beta Decay ◽

Matrix Elements ◽

Exchange Reactions ◽

Double Charge Exchange ◽

Double Charge

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Heavy-ion double charge exchange reactions: A tool toward $0 \nu\beta\beta$ nuclear matrix elements

The European Physical Journal A ◽

10.1140/epja/i2015-15145-5 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 51 (11) ◽

Cited By ~ 69

Author(s):

F. Cappuzzello ◽

M. Cavallaro ◽

C. Agodi ◽

M. Bondì ◽

D. Carbone ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Charge Exchange ◽

Nuclear Matrix ◽

Heavy Ion ◽

Matrix Elements ◽

Exchange Reactions ◽

Double Charge Exchange ◽

Double Charge

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Nuclear Matrix Elements for Heavy Ion Sequential Double Charge Exchange Reactions

Universe ◽

10.3390/universe7040098 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 98

Author(s):

Horst Lenske ◽

Jessica Bellone ◽

Maria Colonna ◽

Danilo Gambacurta

Keyword(s):

Charge Exchange ◽

Nuclear Matrix ◽

Form Factors ◽

Heavy Ion ◽

Theoretical Background ◽

Matrix Elements ◽

Exchange Reactions ◽

Charge Exchange Reaction ◽

Double Charge Exchange ◽

Double Charge

The theoretical approach to a sequential heavy ion double charge exchange reaction is presented. A brief introduction into the formal theory of second-order nuclear reactions and their application to Double Single Charge Exchange (DSCE) reactions by distorted wave theory is given, thereby completing the theoretical background to our recent work. Formally, the DSCE reaction amplitudes are shown to be separable into superpositions of distortion factors, accounting for initial and final state ion–ion interactions, and nuclear matrix elements. A broad space is given to the construction of nuclear DSCE response functions on the basis of polarization propagator theory. The nuclear response tensors resemble the nuclear matrix elements of 2νββ decay in structure but contain in general a considerable more complex multipole and spin structure. The QRPA theory is used to derive explicit expressions for nuclear matrix elements (NMEs). The differences between the NME of the first and the second interaction vertexes in a DSCE reaction is elucidated. Reduction schemes for the transition form factors are discussed by investigating the closure approximation and the momentum structure of form factors. DSCE unit strength cross sections are derived.

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Two-step description of heavy ion double charge exchange reactions

Physics Letters B ◽

10.1016/j.physletb.2020.135528 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 807 ◽

pp. 135528 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jessica I. Bellone ◽

Stefano Burrello ◽

Maria Colonna ◽

José-Antonio Lay ◽

Horst Lenske

Keyword(s):

Charge Exchange ◽

Heavy Ion ◽

Exchange Reactions ◽

Double Charge Exchange ◽

Double Charge

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The NUMEN Heavy Ion Multidetector for a Complementary Approach to the Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay

Universe ◽

10.3390/universe6090129 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (9) ◽

pp. 129 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Paolo Finocchiaro ◽

Luis Acosta ◽

Clementina Agodi ◽

Carmen Altana ◽

Paulina Amador-Valenzuela ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Beta Decay ◽

Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay ◽

Heavy Ion ◽

Double Beta Decay ◽

Mass Hierarchy ◽

Reaction Products ◽

Exchange Reactions ◽

Intrinsic Nature ◽

Experimental Apparatus ◽

Double Charge

Neutrinos are so far the most elusive known particles, and in the last decades many sophisticated experiments have been set up in order to clarify several questions about their intrinsic nature, in particular their masses, mass hierarchy, intrinsic nature of Majorana or Dirac particles. Evidence of the Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay (NDBD) would prove that neutrinos are Majorana particles, thus improving the understanding of the universe itself. Besides the search for several large underground experiments for the direct experimental detection of NDBD, the NUMEN experiment proposes the investigation of a nuclear mechanism strongly linked to this decay: the Double Charge Exchange reactions (DCE). As such reactions share with the NDBD the same initial and final nuclear states, they could shed light on the determination of the Nuclear Matrix Elements (NMEs), which play a relevant role in the decay. The physics of DCE is described elsewhere in this issue, while the focus of this paper will be on the challenging experimental apparatus currently under construction in order to fulfil the requirements of the NUMEN experiment. The overall structure of the technological improvement to the cyclotron, along with the newly developed detection systems required for tracking and identifying the reaction products and their final excitation level are described.

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