Recent results on Heavy-Ion induced reactions of interest for 0νββ decay

C Agodi,S Reito,S Tudisco,J Ferretti,V Soukeras,V.A.B Zagatto For The Numen Collaboration,J L Ferreira ,A Spatafora,G Lanzalone,R Chen,D Bonanno,Aydın Yıldırım ,R.I.M Vsevolodovna,M Colonna,J Ruíz ,A Hacisalihoglu,L Pandola,F Iazzi,S Brasolin,D J Marín-Lámbarri ,Carlo Ferraresi ,V Capirossi,L Serbina,S Burrello,H García-Tecocoatzi ,D R Mendes ,N Deshmukh,L Acosta,M Moralles,F Pinna,S Firat,C Altana,P Ries,P Finocchiaro,G A Brischetto ,M Fisichella,F La Via,L E Charon Garcia ,N H Medina,R.B.B Santos,M Cavallaro,H Vargas Hernandez,I Boztosun,P Mereu,Vincenzo Branchina ,A Huerta-Hernandez,K De Los Ríos ,G De Geronimo,G Gallo,E Santopinto,D Calvo,A Pakou,J.S Wang,E.R Chávez Lomelí,J Ma,R Bijker,M Rodrigues ,V Werner,G A Souliotis ,D Lo Presti,N Auerbach,G Russo,S O Solakcı ,Y Y Yang ,L La Fauci,H Petrascu,R Linares,D Torresi,O Sgouros,A Russo ,J R B Oliveira,F Cappuzzello,J Bellone ,J Kotila,D Carbone,N Pietralla,F Delaunay,H Lenske,L Calabretta,J Barea,J Lubián ,I Ciraldo,J A Lay ,O Brunasso,L Neri,M A G Silveira ,T Borello‐Lewin ,Y Kucuk,P Amador-Valenzuela,Grazia D’agostino ,H Djapo,Salvatore Calabrese ,A Foti

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1308/1/012002

Abstract

An updated overview of recent results on Heavy-Ion induced reactions of interest for neutrinoless double beta decay is reported in the framework of the NUMEN project. The NUMEN idea is to study heavy-ion induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reactions with the aim to get information on the nuclear matrix elements for neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay. Moreover, to infer the neutrino average masses from the possible measurement of the half- life of 0νββ decay, the knowledge of the nuclear matrix elements is a crucial aspect.

Highlights

The search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) addresses fundamental questions in physics, related to the absolute neutrinos mass scale, whether neutrinos are Majorana particles or how many neutrino species are there
The experimental measurements of HIDCE reactions present a number of challenging aspects, since they are characterized by very low cross sections and, in the same experimental conditions, they must be identified with respect to competitive reaction channels
Pioneering experiments on (18O,18Ne) and (20Ne,20O) Double Charge Exchange (DCE) performed at INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS) Laboratory in Catania have shown that accurate cross sections measurements at very forward angles can be done

Summary

Introduction

The search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) addresses fundamental questions in physics, related to the absolute neutrinos mass scale, whether neutrinos are Majorana particles or how many neutrino species are there. 0νββ search has implications for the understanding of the matterantimatter asymmetry in the universe. The design of the 0νββ search experiments themselves require detailed understanding of nuclear physics, as background critically depend on nuclear decay chain and nuclear matrix elements are needed to link observed rates to neutrino properties. In this framework the NUMEN project propose an innovative and original tool: to use Heavy-Ions Double Charge Exchange Reactions (HI-DCE) to access quantitative information for Nuclear Matrix Element towards 0ββ decay

The NUMEN Project

An updated overview

Conclusions and outlook