Speaker
Description
The GERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) collaboration searches for the hypothetical lepton number violating process neutrinoless double beta decay of Germanium-76 by operating 35 kg of enriched germanium diodes acting as both source and detector. The detectors are operated directly in liquid argon, which acts both as a coolant and as background shielding. Since the start of Phase II in 2015, the liquid argon is also instrumented with light detectors to readout scintillation light for further background suppression. The most recent limit on the half-life from GERDA is $8.0 \times 10^{25}$ yr, the strongest limit set for this isotope. This was achieved with a background level of $10^{-3}$ counts/(keV kg yr), such that GERDA will remain "background-free" up to the entire design exposure. In May 2018, GERDA's projected half-life sensitivity will surpass $10^{26}$ yr, the first neutrinoless double beta decay experiment to do so. Results and analysis from this data release will be presented.
| Author's Name | Chloe Ransom |
|---|---|
| Author's Institute | Physik-Institut, University of Zurich |
| Author's e-mail | chloe.ransom@physik.uzh.ch |
| Abstract Title | Search for neutrinoless double beta decay with GERDA |
| Subject | Neutrinos |
