Photodetectors for the SuperNEMO Demonstrator Module

中微子振荡不仅证明了中微子有质量，而且还暗示了标准模型之外的新对称性的存在。这些新的观察结果强烈地激发了对中微子内在特性的进一步研究，包括测试它们是马约拉纳型粒子还是狄拉克型粒子。自然猜想表明，对中微子的更深入了解可能会让我们对普朗克尺度能量水平的现象有所了解，可能会拓宽我们对基本力的认识，可能会揭示轻子和重子的最初产生，并有助于提高我们对宇宙早期演化的理解。马约拉纳型中微子导致无中微子双衰变（NDBD） &#8722；二级弱核过程，其中原子质量和序数为（A， Z）的初始态原子核转变为（A, Z + 2）的原子核，仅发射两个电子。在这个跃迁中，轻子数变化了两个单位，最终态的两个电子携带的能量等于核跃迁的能量。该合同将为购买200个8英寸直径的pmt提供资金，以完成第一个SuperNEMO模块的建造，即演示器。未来三年至关重要，因此这一贡献是及时的，对这一阶段实验的成功至关重要。在这个项目更广泛的影响中，揭示中微子的本质将对更好地理解基本粒子及其基本相互作用产生深远的影响。在技术方面，该小组正在开发一种独特的低背景计数技术，可以应用于物理学以外的领域，对社会有普遍的好处。他们教育和培训年轻的研究人员建立最先进的科学项目。他们提议在德克萨斯大学校园内建立一个展览馆，展示自然放射性、宇宙射线和相关亚原子现象的发现、基础物理学和应用。

Neutrino oscillations not only demonstrate that neutrinos have mass but also imply the existence of new symmetries beyond the Standard Model. These new observations strongly motivate further studies of the intrinsic properties of neutrinos, including tests of whether they are Majorana or Dirac-type particles. Natural conjectures suggest that a deeper understanding of neutrinos may provide a glimpse onto phenomena at a Planck-scale energy level, could broaden our knowledge of the fundamental forces, could shed light onto the initial creation of leptons and baryons, and can help to improve our understanding of the early evolution of the Universe. Majorana-type neutrinos lead to a neutrinoless double beta decay (NDBD) − the second-order weak nuclear process for which an initial state nucleus with atomic weight and number (A, Z) is transformed into a nucleus of (A, Z + 2), with the emission of only two electrons. In this transition, the lepton number changes by two units and the two electrons in the final state carry the energy equal to the energy of nuclear transition. This award will provide funds to purchase 200 8-inch diameter PMTs to complete the construction of the first SuperNEMO module, the Demonstrator. The next three years are critical so this contribution is timely and crucial to the success of this phase of the experiment. Among the broader impacts of this project, unraveling the nature of neutrinos will have far-reaching implications for better understanding of elementary particles and their fundamental interactions. On the technical side, the group is developing a unique low background counting technique which may be applied outside of physics and can be of general benefit to society. They educate and train young researchers in building state-of-the-art science projects. They propose to build an exhibit gallery on the UT campus illustrating the discovery, the underlying physics, and applications of natural radioactivity, cosmic rays, and related subatomic phenomena.