Speaker
Gabriele Piperno
Description
The Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay ($0\nu$DBD) is a powerful tool to test physics beyond the Standard Model and to get insights on the Majorana neutrino nature and mass. Bolometers are excellent detectors to search for this rare decay, thanks to their good energy resolution and to the low background conditions in which they can operate. The current challenge consists in the reduction of the background, represented by environmental $\gamma$s and $\alpha$s, in view of a zero background experiment. This can be obtained with the approach of the LUCIFER project, funded by an European grant, which is based the double read–out of the heat and scintillation light produced by ZnSe scintillating bolometers, that allows to discriminate between $\beta/\gamma$ and $\alpha$ particles. The LUCIFER experiment aims at a background lower than 10$^{3}$ counts/keV/kg/y in the energy region of the $0\nu$DBD of $^{82}$Se, an order of magnitude lower with respect to the present generation experiments. Such a low background level will provide a sensitivity on the effective
neutrino mass of the order of 100 meV. We describe the current status of the LUCIFER project, including results of the recent R&D activity.
Primary authors
Ms
Claudia Tomei
(INFN Sezione di Roma)
Gabriele Piperno
