New limits on double-beta decay of $$^{190}$$Pt and $$^{198}$$Pt

A search for double-beta decay of $$^{190}$$ 190 Pt and $$^{198}$$ 198 Pt with emission of $$\gamma $$ γ -ray quanta was realized at the HADES underground laboratory with a 148 g platinum sample measured by two ultralow-background HPGe detectors over 8946 h. The isotopic composition of the platinum sample has been measured with high precision using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. New lower limits for the half-lives of $$^{190}$$ 190 Pt relative to different channels and modes of the decays were set on the level of $$\lim T_{1/2}\sim 10^{14}$$ lim T 1 / 2 ∼ 10 14 –$$10^{16}$$ 10 16 year. A possible exact resonant $$0\nu KN$$ 0 ν K N transition to the 1,2 1326.9 keV level of $$^{190}$$ 190 Os is limited for the first time as $$T_{1/2} \ge 2.5 \times 10^{16}$$ T 1 / 2 ≥ 2.5 × 10 16 year. A new lower limit on the double-beta decay of $$^{198}$$ 198 Pt to the first excited level of $$^{198}$$ 198 Hg was set as $$T_{1/2} \ge 3.2\times 10^{19}$$ T 1 / 2 ≥ 3.2 × 10 19 year, one order of magnitude higher than the limit obtained in the previous experiment.

Production and validation of scintillating structural components from low-background Poly(ethylene naphthalate)

Poly Ethylene Naphthalate (PEN) is an industrial polymer plastic which is investigated as a low background, transparent, scintillating and wavelength shifting structural material. PEN scintillates in the blue region and has excellent mechanical properties both at room and cryogenic temperatures. Thus, it is an ideal candidate for active structural components in experiments for the search of rare events like neutrinoless double-beta decay or dark matter recoils. Such optically active structures improve the identification and rejection efficiency of backgrounds events, like this improving the sensitivity of experiments. This paper reports on the production of radiopure and transparent PEN plates These structures can be used to mount germanium detectors operating in cryogenic liquids (LAr, LN). Thus, as first application PEN holders will be used to mount the Ge detectors in the Legend-200 experiment. The whole process from cleaning the raw material to testing the PEN active components under final operational conditions is reported.

nEXO: neutrinoless double beta decay search beyond 1028 year half-life sensitivity

The nEXO neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay experiment is designed to use a time projection chamber and 5000 kg of isotopically enriched liquid xenon to search for the decay in 136Xe. Progress in the detector design, paired with higher fidelity in its simulation and an advanced data analysis, based on the one used for the final results of EXO-200, produce a sensitivity prediction that exceeds the half-life of 1028 years. Specifically, improvements have been made in the understanding of production of scintillation photons and charge as well as of their transport and reconstruction in the detector. The more detailed knowledge of the detector construction has been paired with more assays for trace radioactivity in different materials. In particular, the use of custom electroformed copper is now incorporated in the design, leading to a substantial reduction in backgrounds from the intrinsic radioactivity of detector materials. Furthermore, a number of assumptions from previous sensitivity projections have gained further support from interim work validating the nEXO experiment concept. Together these improvements and updates suggest that the nEXO experiment will reach a half-life sensitivity of 1.35 × 1028 yr at 90% confidence level in 10 years of data taking, covering the parameter space associated with the inverted neutrino mass ordering, along with a significant portion of the parameter space for the normal ordering scenario, for almost all nuclear matrix elements. The effects of backgrounds deviating from the nominal values used for the projections are also illustrated, concluding that the nEXO design is robust against a number of imperfections of the model.

Leptogenesis and fermion mass fit in a renormalizable SO(10) model

A non-supersymmetric renormalizable SO(10) model is investigated for its viability in explaining the observed fermion masses and mixing parameters along with the baryon asymmetry produced via thermal leptogenesis. The Yukawa sector of the model consists of complex 10H and $$ {\overline{126}}_H $$ 126 ¯ H scalars with a Peccei-Quinn like symmetry and it leads to strong correlations among the Yukawa couplings of all the standard model fermions including the couplings and masses of the right-handed (RH) neutrinos. The latter implies the necessity to include the second lightest RH neutrino and flavor effects for the precision computation of leptogenesis. We use the most general density matrix equations to calculate the temperature evolution of flavoured leptonic asymmetry. A simplified analytical solution of these equations, applicable to the RH neutrino spectrum predicted in the model, is also obtained which allows one to fit the observed baryon to photon ratio along with the other fermion mass observables in a numerically efficient way. The analytical and numerical solutions are found to be in agreement within a factor of $$ \mathcal{O}(1) $$ O 1 . We find that the successful leptogenesis in this model does not prefer any particular value for leptonic Dirac and Majorana CP phases and the entire range of values of these observables is found to be consistent. The model specifically predicts (a) the lightest neutrino mass $$ {m}_{v_1} $$ m v 1 between 2–8 meV, (b) the effective mass of neutrinoless double beta decay mββ between 4–10 meV, and (c) a particular correlation between the Dirac and one of the Majorana CP phases.

Resonant leptogenesis and TM$$_1$$ mixing in minimal type-I seesaw model with S$$_4$$ symmetry

We present an S$$_4$$ 4 flavour symmetric model within a minimal seesaw framework resulting in mass matrices that leads to TM$$_1$$ 1 mixing. Minimal seesaw is realized by adding two right-handed neutrinos to the Standard Model. The model predicts Normal Hierarchy (NH) for neutrino masses. Using the constrained six-dimensional parameter space of the model, we have evaluated the effective Majorana neutrino mass, which is the parameter of interest in neutrinoless double beta decay experiments. The possibility of explaining baryogenesis via resonant leptogenesis is also examined within the model. A non-zero, resonantly enhanced CP asymmetry generated from the decay of right-handed neutrinos at the TeV scale is studied, considering flavour effects. The evolution of lepton asymmetry is discussed by solving the set of Boltzmann equations numerically and obtain the value of baryon asymmetry to be $$|\eta _B| = 6.3 \times 10^{-10}$$ | η B | = 6.3 × 10 - 10 with the choice of right-handed neutrino mass, $$M_1 = 10$$ M 1 = 10 TeV and mass splitting, $$d \simeq 10^{-8}$$ d ≃ 10 - 8 .

The NUMEN Technical Design Report

NUMEN proposes an innovative technique to access the nuclear matrix elements entering the expression of the lifetime of the double beta decay by cross-section measurements of heavy-ion induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reactions. Despite the fact that the two processes, namely neutrinoless double beta decay and DCE reactions, are triggered by the weak and strong interaction respectively, important analogies are suggested. The basic point is the coincidence of the initial and final state many-body wave functions in the two types of processes and the formal similarity of the transition operators. The main experimental tools for this project are the K800 Superconducting Cyclotron and MAGNEX spectrometer at the INFN-LNS laboratory. However, the tiny values of DCE cross-sections and the resolution requirements demand beam intensities much higher than those manageable with the present facility. The on-going upgrade of the INFN-LNS facilities promoted by the POTLNS * project in this perspective is intimately connected to the NUMEN project. This paper describes the solutions proposed as a result of the R&D activity performed during the recent years. The goal is to develop suitable technologies allowing for the measurements of DCE cross-section under extremely high beam intensities. * PIR01_00005 — potenziamento dell’infrastruttura di ricerca Laboratori Nazionali del Sud per la produzione di fasci di ioni ad alta intensitá.

Bolometric Double Beta Decay Experiments: Review and Prospects

This review aims to cover the history and recent developments on cryogenic bolometers for neutrinoless double beta decay (0ν2β) searches. A 0ν2β decay observation would confirm the total lepton charge non-conservation, which is related to a global U(1)LC symmetry. This discovery would also provide essential information on neutrino masses and nature, opening the door to new physics beyond the Standard Model. The bolometric technology shows good prospects for future ton-scale experiments that aim to fully investigate the inverted ordering region of neutrino masses. The big advantage of bolometers is the high energy resolution and the possibility of particle identification, as well as various methods of additional background rejection. The CUORE experiment has proved the feasibility of ton-scale cryogenic experiments, setting the most stringent limit on 130Te 0ν2β decay. Two CUPID demonstrators (CUPID-0 and CUPID-Mo) have set the most stringent limits on 82Se and 100Mo isotopes, respectively, with compatibly low exposures. Several experiments are developing new methods to improve the background in the region of interest with bolometric detectors. CUPID and AMoRE experiments aim to cover the inverted hierarchy region, using scintillating bolometers with hundreds of kg of 100Mo. We review all of these efforts here, with a focus on the different types of radioactive background and the measures put in place to mitigate them.