CUORE and MAJORANA:Next Generation Neutrino-Less Double-Beta Experiments

CUORE 和 MAJORANA：下一代无中微子双贝塔实验

• 批准号: 0855314
• 负责人: Frank Avignone
• 金额: $ 106.03万
• 依托单位: University South Carolina Research Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-08-15 至 2013-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0855314&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CUORE; MAJORANA; Next; Generation; Neutrino

A program in neutrino-less double-beta (NLDB) decay is very timely. 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. 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 tellurium oxide 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 CUORE electronics from the detector to the 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 test the specific construction procedures of CUORE, will operate in the CUORICINO cryostat and will yield physics results beyond those of CUORICINO. For Broader Impacts, these proposed tasks provide excellent Ph.D. research topics. Another broader impact is, and has been, new detector technology for national and homeland security. A third broader impact is new cryogenic and Ge-detector technology for other basic/applied sciences.

无中微子双贝塔衰变(NLDB)计划是非常及时的。APS多部门研究的一个主要结论是：“我们建议，作为优先事项，对无中微子核的双β衰变进行分阶段的灵敏搜索。”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。如果中微子是Majorana粒子，则很有可能精确测量NLDB衰变半衰期；它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观测站(CUORE)提供资金，CUORE是一个由988个氧化碲测辐射热计组成的阵列。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从探测器到数据采集系统的CUORE电子产品的采购和生产。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。它将测试CuORE的具体建造程序，将在Cuoricino低温恒温器中运行，并将产生比Cuoricino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。另一个更广泛的影响是，而且一直是，用于国家和国土安全的新探测器技术。第三个更广泛的影响是用于其他基础科学/应用科学的新的低温和锗探测器技术。