No Arabic abstract
We report the results of a search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in a 9.8~kg$cdot$yr exposure of $^{130}$Te using a bolometric detector array, CUORE-0. The characteristic detector energy resolution and background level in the region of interest are $5.1pm 0.3{rm~keV}$ FWHM and $0.058 pm 0.004,(mathrm{stat.})pm 0.002,(mathrm{syst.})$~counts/(keV$cdot$kg$cdot$yr), respectively. The median 90%~C.L. lower-limit sensitivity of the experiment is $2.9times 10^{24}~{rm yr}$ and surpasses the sensitivity of previous searches. We find no evidence for neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{130}$Te and place a Bayesian lower bound on the decay half-life, $T^{0 u}_{1/2}>$~$ 2.7times 10^{24}~{rm yr}$ at 90%~C.L. Combining CUORE-0 data with the 19.75~kg$cdot$yr exposure of $^{130}$Te from the Cuoricino experiment we obtain $T^{0 u}_{1/2} > 4.0times 10^{24}~mathrm{yr}$ at 90%~C.L.~(Bayesian), the most stringent limit to date on this half-life. Using a range of nuclear matrix element estimates we interpret this as a limit on the effective Majorana neutrino mass, $m_{betabeta}< 270$ -- $760~mathrm{meV}$.
We describe in detail the methods used to obtain the lower bound on the lifetime of neutrinoless double-beta ($0 ubetabeta$) decay in $^{130}$Te and the associated limit on the effective Majorana mass of the neutrino using the CUORE-0 detector. CUORE-0 is a bolometric detector array located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso that was designed to validate the background reduction techniques developed for CUORE, a next-generation experiment scheduled to come online in 2016. CUORE-0 is also a competitive $0 ubetabeta$ decay search in its own right and functions as a platform to further develop the analysis tools and procedures to be used in CUORE. These include data collection, event selection and processing, as well as an evaluation of signal efficiency. In particular, we describe the amplitude evaluation, thermal gain stabilization, energy calibration methods, and the analysis event selection used to create our final $0 ubetabeta$ decay search spectrum. We define our high level analysis procedures, with emphasis on the new insights gained and challenges encountered. We outline in detail our fitting methods near the hypothesized $0 ubetabeta$ decay peak and catalog the main sources of systematic uncertainty. Finally, we derive the $0 ubetabeta$ decay half-life limits previously reported for CUORE-0, $T^{0 u}_{1/2}>2.7times10^{24}$ yr, and in combination with the Cuoricino limit, $T^{0 u}_{1/2}>4.0times10^{24}$ yr.
Neutrinoless double-beta ($0 ubetabeta$) decay is a hypothesized lepton-number-violating process that offers the only known means of asserting the possible Majorana nature of neutrino mass. The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is an upcoming experiment designed to search for $0 ubetabeta$ decay of $^{130}$Te using an array of 988 TeO$_2$ crystal bolometers operated at 10 mK. The detector will contain 206 kg of $^{130}$Te and have an average energy resolution of 5 keV; the projected $0 ubetabeta$ decay half-life sensitivity after five years of live time is $1.6times 10^{26}$ y at $1sigma$ ($9.5times10^{25}$ y at the 90% confidence level), which corresponds to an upper limit on the effective Majorana mass in the range 40--100 meV (50--130 meV). In this paper we review the experimental techniques used in CUORE as well as its current status and anticipated physics reach.
We report new results from the search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in $^{130}$Te with the CUORE detector. This search benefits from a four-fold increase in exposure, lower trigger thresholds and analysis improvements relative to our previous results. We observe a background of $(1.38pm0.07)cdot10^{-2}$ counts$/($keV$cdot$kg$cdot$yr$)$ in the $0 ubetabeta$ decay region of interest and, with a total exposure of 372.5 kg$cdot$yr, we attain a median exclusion sensitivity of $1.7cdot10^{25}$ yr. We find no evidence for $0 ubetabeta$ decay and set a $90%$ CI Bayesian lower limit of $3.2cdot10^{25}$ yr on the $^{130}$Te half-life for this process. In the hypothesis that $0 ubetabeta$ decay is mediated by light Majorana neutrinos, this results in an upper limit on the effective Majorana mass of 75-350 meV, depending on the nuclear matrix elements used.
The CUORE experiment, a ton-scale cryogenic bolometer array, recently began operation at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. The array represents a significant advancement in this technology, and in this work we apply it for the first time to a high-sensitivity search for a lepton-number--violating process: $^{130}$Te neutrinoless double-beta decay. Examining a total TeO$_2$ exposure of 86.3 kg$cdot$yr, characterized by an effective energy resolution of (7.7 $pm$ 0.5) keV FWHM and a background in the region of interest of (0.014 $pm$ 0.002) counts/(keV$cdot$kg$cdot$yr), we find no evidence for neutrinoless double-beta decay. The median statistical sensitivity of this search is $7.0times10^{24}$ yr. Including systematic uncertainties, we place a lower limit on the decay half-life of $T^{0 u}_{1/2}$($^{130}$Te) > $1.3times 10^{25}$ yr (90% C.L.). Combining this result with those of two earlier experiments, Cuoricino and CUORE-0, we find $T^{0 u}_{1/2}$($^{130}$Te) > $1.5times 10^{25}$ yr (90% C.L.), which is the most stringent limit to date on this decay. Interpreting this result as a limit on the effective Majorana neutrino mass, we find $m_{betabeta}<(110 - 520)$ meV, where the range reflects the nuclear matrix element estimates employed.
The CUORE experiment is a large bolometric array searching for the lepton number violating neutrino-less double beta decay ($0 ubetabeta$) in the isotope $mathrm{^{130}Te}$. In this work we present the latest results on two searches for the double beta decay (DBD) of $mathrm{^{130}Te}$ to the first $0^{+}_2$ excited state of $mathrm{^{130}Xe}$: the $0 ubetabeta$ decay and the Standard Model-allowed two-neutrinos double beta decay ($2 ubetabeta$). Both searches are based on a 372.5 kg$times$yr TeO$_2$ exposure. The de-excitation gamma rays emitted by the excited Xe nucleus in the final state yield a unique signature, which can be searched for with low background by studying coincident events in two or more bolometers. The closely packed arrangement of the CUORE crystals constitutes a significant advantage in this regard. The median limit setting sensitivities at 90% Credible Interval (C.I.) of the given searches were estimated as $mathrm{S^{0 u}_{1/2} = 5.6 times 10^{24} : mathrm{yr}}$ for the ${0 ubetabeta}$ decay and $mathrm{S^{2 u}_{1/2} = 2.1 times 10^{24} : mathrm{yr}}$ for the ${2 ubetabeta}$ decay. No significant evidence for either of the decay modes was observed and a Bayesian lower bound at $90%$ C.I. on the decay half lives is obtained as: $mathrm{(T_{1/2})^{0 u}_{0^+_2} > 5.9 times 10^{24} : mathrm{yr}}$ for the $0 ubetabeta$ mode and $mathrm{(T_{1/2})^{2 u}_{0^+_2} > 1.3 times 10^{24} : mathrm{yr}}$ for the $2 ubetabeta$ mode. These represent the most stringent limits on the DBD of $^{130}$Te to excited states and improve by a factor $sim5$ the previous results on this process.