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

建议编号：0758544投资：南卡罗来纳大学研究基金会NSF计划：PHY粒子ASTROPHYSICSPRINCIPAL研究员：Avignone，Frank T.Title：Cuore/Cuoricino和Majorana：下一代双贝塔衰变实验现在是时候进行全面的无中微子双贝塔(NLDB)衰变计划了。APS多部门研究的一个主要结论是：作为优先事项，我们建议对无中微子核双β衰变进行分阶段的敏感搜索。NLDB衰变是确定中微子是否是它们自己的反粒子的唯一实用方法，也是对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Majorana粒子，则很有可能精确测量NLDB衰变半衰期；这将得出电子中微子的有效Majorana质量，当与中微子振荡实验的结果相结合时，将确定所有三个中微子质量本征值。该合同将为南加州大学继续参与位于意大利Gran Sasso(LNGS)的低温地下稀有事件天文台(CUORE)提供资金，该天文台由988个TeO2测辐射热计组成。Cuore是Cuoricino的继任者，Cuoricino是目前运行中最敏感的NLDB衰变实验。南加州大学团队负责整个CUORE电子系统的采购和生产，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具体建造程序的测试，并将在Cuoricino低温恒温器中运行。这将产生比库里奇诺更好的物理结果。对于更广泛的影响，这些建议的任务提供了极好的博士研究课题。皮？S在自然低密度辐射衰变和冷暗物质方面的低本底实验为许多学生提供了学位论文主题，目前更多的研究生正处于他们项目的不同阶段。

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.