Speaker
Pawel Guzowski
(University of Manchester)
Description
The NEMO-3 and SuperNEMO experiments aim to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. If observed, this would show that the neutrino is its own antiparticle, and be the the first evidence of lepton number violation. The unique setup of the experiments, using a tracker-calorimeter technique, is able to measure the full kinematic signature of the decays. This will help in determining the underlying physical process behind neutrinoless double beta decay, once it is discovered. The NEMO-3 experiment took data from 2003 to 2011, with 7 kg of Mo-100 and 1 kg of Se-82 as the main double beta decay sources. There were no neutrinoless double beta decays observed, with half-life limits of about 10^24 years. The SuperNEMO experiment will hope to improve on the NEMO-3 technique, using 100 kg of Se-82 source, and running under zero background conditions. A half-life sensitivity of about 10^26 years (effective neutrino mass sensitivity of about 50 meV) can be achieved. A demonstrator module of the experiment is currently under construction, with data taking due to begin next year. The latest results from NEMO-3 will be summarised, and the current status of the SuperNEMO experiment will be presented.
Author
Pawel Guzowski
(University of Manchester)
