CUORE/CUORICINO and Majorana: Next Generation Double-Beta Decay Experiments

提案编号：0758544机构：南卡罗来纳州大学研究基金会NSF项目：物理-粒子天体物理学项目：Avignone，Frank T.标题：CUORE/CUORICINO和Majorana：下一代双β衰变实验 摘要：现在是开展无中微子双β衰变（NLDB）综合研究的时候了。APS多部门研究的一个主要结论是：？我们建议，作为一个高优先级，一个分阶段的计划，敏感的搜索无中微子核双β衰变。NLDB衰变是确定中微子是否是其自身的反粒子的唯一实用方法，也是轻子数守恒最敏感的测试，轻子数守恒是基本粒子物理学中的一个重要对称性。此外，如果中微子是马约拉纳粒子，精确测量NLDB衰变半衰期是可能的;它将产生电子中微子的有效马约拉纳质量，当与中微子振荡实验的结果结合时，将确定所有三个中微子质量本征值。该奖项将提供资金，支持南加州大学集团继续参与罕见事件低温地下观测站（CUORE），一个988 TeO 2测辐射热计阵列，位于意大利的Gran Sasso（LNGS）。CUORE是CUORICINO的继任者，CUORICINO是目前运行中最灵敏的NLDB衰变实验。USC团队负责采购和生产完整的CUORE电子系统，从探测器开始，到数据采集系统的输入结束。PI是CUORE-0建设的美国任务协调员，CUORE-0是CUORE 19座塔楼中的第一座。它将作为CUORE的特定构造程序的测试，并将在CUORICINO低温恒温器中运行。这将产生超出CUORICINO的物理结果。对于更广泛的影响，这些建议的任务提供了优秀的博士学位。研究课题。私家侦探？在NLDB衰变和冷暗物质的低背景实验提供了许多学生的论文题目，与更多的研究生目前在他们的计划的各个阶段。

PROPOSAL NUMBER: 0758544INSTITUTION: University of South Carolina Research FoundationNSF PROGRAM: PHY - PARTICLE ASTROPHYSICSPRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Avignone, Frank T.TITLE: CUORE/CUORICINO and Majorana: Next Generation Double-Beta Decay Experiments ABSTRACTThe time for a comprehensive program in neutrino-less double-beta (NLDB) decay is now. One principal conclusion of the APS Multidivisional Study stated: ?We recommend, as a high priority, a phased program of sensitive searches for neutrinoless nuclear double-beta decay.? NLDB decay is the only practical way to determine if neutrinos are their own antiparticles and it is the most sensitive test of lepton-number conservation, an important symmetry in elementary-particle physics. In addition, if neutrinos are Majorana particles, an accurate measurement of the NLDB-decay half-life might well be possible; it would yield the effective Majorana mass of the electron neutrino which, when combined with the results of neutrino oscillation experiments, would determine all three neutrino-mass eigenvalues. This award will provide funds to support the USC group to continue their involvement in the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE), an array of 988 TeO2 bolometers, at Gran Sasso (LNGS), Italy. CUORE is the successor to CUORICINO, currently the most sensitive NLDB decay experiment in operation. The USC team is responsible for the procurement and production of the complete CUORE electronic system starting at the detector and ending at the input of data acquisition system. The PI is the U.S. Task Coordinator for the construction of CUORE-0, the first of the 19 towers of CUORE. It will serve as a test of the specific construction procedures of CUORE, and will operate in the CUORICINO cryostat. This will yield physics results beyond those of CUORICINO. For Broader Impacts, these proposed tasks provide excellent Ph.D. research topics. The PI?s low-background experiments in NLDB decay and Cold Dark Matter have provided dissertation topics for many students, with more research students currently at various stages of their programs.