Direct neutrino mass measurements
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Nuclear Physics, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany)
The determination of the neutrino rest mass plays an important role at the intersections of cosmology, particle physics and astroparticle physics. This topic is currently being addressed by two complementary approaches in laboratory experiments. Neutrinoless double beta decay experiments probe whether neutrinos are Majorana particles and determine an effective neutrino mass value. Single beta decay experiments such as KATRIN and MARE investigate the spectral shape of β-decay electrons close to their kinematic endpoint in order to determine the neutrino rest mass with a model-independent method. Owing to neutrino flavour mixing, the neutrino mass parameter appears as an average of all neutrino mass eigenstates contributing to the electron neutrino. The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino experiment (KATRIN) is currently the experiment in the most advanced status of commissioning. Applying an ultra-luminous molecular windowless gaseous tritium source and an integrating high-resolution spectrometer of MAC-E filter type, it allows β-spectroscopy close to the T{sub 2} end-point with unprecedented precision and will reach a sensitivity of 200 meV/c{sup 2} (90% C.L.) on the neutrino rest mass.
- OSTI ID:
- 22975057
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Particles and Nuclei, Vol. 42, Issue 4; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2011 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1063-7796
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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