Purification of the Ge-76 for the Majorana Demonstrator

为马约拉纳演示者纯化 Ge-76

• 批准号: 1003399
• 负责人: Frank Avignone
• 金额: $ 144.3万
• 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: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1003399&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Purification; Ge; 76; Majorana; Demonstrator

A comprehensive program in neutrino-less double-beta decay is very timely. A principal conclusion of the APS Multidivisional Study stated: "We recommend, as a high priority, a phased program of sensitive searches for neutrino-less nuclear double-beta decay." The intellectual merit of this project derives from the fact that neutrino-less nuclear double-beta-decay "is the only practical way to determine if neutrinos are Majorana particles (their own antiparticles)". This exotic nuclear decay is the most sensitive test of lepton-number conservation, an important symmetry in elementary-particle physics. In fact, if neutrinos are Majorana particles, an accurate measurement of the neutrino-less nuclear double-beta-decay half-life might well be possible; it would yield the effective Majorana mass of the electron neutrino. When combined with neutrino oscillation data, it would determine all three neutrino-mass eigenvalues. This award provides funding to support a major Task in the MAJORANA R&D Project to establish the feasibility and cost of a one-ton 76Ge neutrino-less nuclear double-beta-decay experiment. The purification and recycling of the quantity of enriched germanium required for a one-ton experiment will have to be done efficiently to significantly reduce the cost of the experiment. The plan involves purchasing the needed equipment, setting it up, hiring and training personnel, testing the operation with natural abundance germanium, and processing the enriched 76Ge for the MAJORANA Demonstrator Module, and optimizing the efficiency. Among the broader impacts is, and has been, new detector technology for national and homeland security and new detector technology for other basic/applied sciences.

一项关于无中微子双β衰变的全面计划非常及时。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。”这个项目的学术价值来自于这样一个事实，即无中微子核双β衰变是确定中微子是否是马约拉纳粒子(它们自己的反粒子)的唯一实用方法。这种奇异的核衰变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。事实上，如果中微子是马约拉纳粒子，准确测量没有中微子的核双β衰变半衰期是可能的；这将产生电子中微子的有效马约拉纳质量。当结合中微子振荡数据时，它将确定所有三个中微子质量本征值。该奖项为Majorana研发项目中的一项重大任务提供资金，以确定一吨76Ge无中微子核双β衰变实验的可行性和成本。一吨重的实验所需的大量浓缩锗的提纯和回收将必须有效地进行，以显著降低实验成本。该计划包括购买所需的设备、设置、招聘和培训人员、使用天然丰富的锗测试操作、为Majorana演示器模块处理浓缩的76Ge，以及优化效率。在更广泛的影响中，对国家和国土安全的新探测器技术，以及对其他基础科学/应用科学的新探测器技术，一直都是如此。