Speaker
Description
The NEXT (Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC) experiment will search for neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay from 136-Xe using a high pressure xenon gas time projection chamber. This detector technology has several key advantages, including excellent energy resolution and powerful background rejection based on event topology. The collaboration is currently operating a 5 kg demonstrator called NEXT-White, which has been acquiring data at Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC) in Spain to demonstrate the detector capabilities and measure the 2νββ lifetime. A 2:1 scaled up successor called NEXT-100 is being developed with commissioning anticipated in 2020. NEXT-100 will search for 0νββ, as well as demonstrating performance and scalability of the high pressure xenon TPC technology for future searches. This talk will discuss the design of NEXT, as well as the current status, including resolution studies, topological discrimination from calibration data, and background validation. We will also present preliminary results on our 2νββ measurement.
