Abstract
The Enriched Xenon Observatory (EXO) is an experimental program search- ing for neutrinoless double-beta decay using 136 Xe. Such a search can shed light on the Majorana nature of the neutrino (whether the neutrino is its own anti-particle), the ab- solute mass scale of neutrinos, and beyond standard model processes that violate lepton number conservation. The first phase of the experiment, EXO-200, uses 200 kg of xenon with 80% enrichment in 136 Xe in a single-phase liquid xenon time projection chamber (TPC). The double-beta decay of xenon is detected in the ultra-low background TPC by collecting both the scintillation light and the ionization charge. The detector has been tak- ing low background physics data with enriched xenon at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico since early May 2011. The results produced from the collab- oration include the first observation of two-neutrino double-beta decay of 136 Xe, and a neutrinoless double-beta decay search result that places one of the most stringent limits on the e ective Majorana neutrino mass. Building on the success of EXO-200, the col- laboration is performing feasibility studies and R&D work for a future multi-tonne scale experiment named nEXO. During the talk, I will discuss the latest results from EXO-200 and prospects of neutrinoless double-beta decay search with both EXO-200 and nEXO.
Highlights
Neutrinos are some of the most difficult known particles to study
The Enriched Xenon Observatory (EXO) collaboration is searching for 0νββ in 136Xe
The reference design is a scale-up of the EXO-200 detector, with 5 tons of enriched liquid xenon
Summary
Neutrinos are some of the most difficult known particles to study. Their mass is presently unknown ( we know they do have mass from oscillation experiments), as is their potential to undergo CP-violating transformations. We do not know whether neutrinos are Dirac or Majorana particles. 0νββ is related to the neutrino mass by s new physics).
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