Article

Probing New Physics Models of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay with SuperNEMO

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CNRS/IN2P3, Centre d’Etudes Nucléaires de Bordeaux Gradignan, UMR 5797, 33175 Gradignan, France
(Impact Factor: 5.08). 12/2010; 70(4):927-943. DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-010-1481-5
Source: arXiv

ABSTRACT

The possibility to probe new physics scenarios of light Majorana neutrino exchange and right-handed currents at the planned
next generation neutrinoless double β decay experiment SuperNEMO is discussed. Its ability to study different isotopes and track the outgoing electrons provides
the means to discriminate different underlying mechanisms for the neutrinoless double β decay by measuring the decay half-life and the electron angular and energy distributions.

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Available from: Luis Serra
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• "The SuperNEMO detector will consist of 20 identical modules, each housing ∼ 5–7 kg of source isotope , surrounded by a tracking chamber enclosed in a calorimeter. The detector will employ about 100 kg of enriched isotope in order to reach a sensitivity to a half-life of about 10 26 years, which corresponds to Majorana neutrino masses of about 53–145 meV [3]. β β decay is a very rare process and, therefore, special attention is devoted to background suppression, and radon 222 Rn is one of the most dangerous contributors. "
Article: Measurement of radon diffusion through shielding foils for the SuperNEMO experiment
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ABSTRACT: An apparatus developed for the measurement of radon diffusion through thin foils for the SuperNEMO project is presented. The goal of the SuperNEMO collaboration is to construct a new generation detector for the search for neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) with 100 kg of enriched isotope as the source. At present, the collaboration is carrying out R&D in order to suppress significantly intrinsic background including that caused by radon. The description of the apparatus, data analysis method, as well as the results obtained in the measurement of radon diffusion through several types of thin foils, glue and sealant suitable for shielding in the SuperNEMO detector are discussed.
Full-text · Article · Jan 2011 · Journal of Instrumentation
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Article: Tribimaximal mixing in neutrino mass matrices with texture zeros or vanishing minors
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ABSTRACT: We study the existence of one/two texture zeros or one/two vanishing minors in the neutrino mass matrix with $\mu\tau$ symmetry. In the basis where the charged lepton mass matrix and the Dirac neutrino mass matrix are diagonal, the one/two zeros or one/two vanishing minors in the right-handed Majorana mass matrix having $\mu\tau$ symmetry will propagate via seesaw mechanism as one/two vanishing minors or one/two texture zeros in the neutrino mass matrix with $\mu\tau$ symmetry respectively. It is found that only five such texture structures of the neutrino mass matrix are phenomenologically viable. For tribimaximal mixing, these texture structures reduce the number of free parameters to one. Interesting predictions are obtained for the effective Majorana mass $M_{ee}$, the absolute mass scale and the Majorana-type CP violating phases.
Full-text · Article · Nov 2010 · Modern Physics Letters A
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Article: Solar neutrino-electron scattering as background limitation for double beta decay
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ABSTRACT: The background on double beta decay searches due to elastic electron scattering of solar neutrinos of all double beta emitters with Q-value larger than 2 MeV is calculated, taking into account survival probability and flux uncertainties of solar neutrinos. This work determines the background level to be [1-2]E-7 counts /keV/kg/yr, depending on the precise Q-value of the double beta emitter. It is also shown that the background level increases dramatically if going to lower Q-values. Furthermore, studies are done for various detector systems under consideration for next generation experiments. It was found that experiments based on loaded liquid scintillator have to expect a higher background. Within the given nuclear matrix element uncertainties any approach exploring the normal hierarchy has to face this irreducible background, which is a limitation on the minimal achievable background for purely calorimetric approaches. Large scale liquid scintillator experiments might encounter this problem already while exploring the inverted hierarchy. Potential caveats by using more sophisticated experimental setups are also discussed.
Full-text · Article · Mar 2011 · Journal of Physics G Nuclear and Particle Physics