Abstract

The CUORE (Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events) experiment will search for neutrinoless double beta decay of <sup>130</sup>Te, a rare nuclear process that, if observed, would demonstrate the Majorana nature of the neutrino and enable measurements of the effective Majorana mass. The CUORE setup consists of an array of 988 tellurium dioxide crystals, operated as bolometers, with a total mass of about 200 kg of <sup>130</sup>Te. The experiment is under construction at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy. As a first step towards CUORE, the first tower (CUORE-0) has been assembled and will soon be in operation.

Highlights

  • Neutrinoless double beta decay is a unique probe for addressing the open questions in neutrino physics: the nature of a neutrino (Dirac or Majorana), the absolute neutrino mass scale and the mass hierarchy

  • CUORE-0 operations began in September 2011, when the crystals were successfully instrumented with thermistors and heaters using the new semiautomated CUORE gluing system

  • The CUORE (Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events) experiment will search for neutrinoless double beta decay of 130Te

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Summary

Introduction

Neutrinoless double beta decay is a unique probe for addressing the open questions in neutrino physics: the nature of a neutrino (Dirac or Majorana), the absolute neutrino mass scale and the mass hierarchy. Neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) is an extremely rare nuclear process, never observed up to now. Neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) is an extremely rare nuclear process, never observed up to now1 It can take place through the exchange of a massive Majorana neutrino, and its occurrence violates conservation of the total lepton number, implying physics beyond the Standard Model (for a recent review see [1]). Where G0ν is the phase-space factor and M0ν is the nuclear matrix element. From a measurement (or a lower limit in the case of a null result) on T10/ν2 for any ββ emitting isotope, one can extract the value (or an upper limit) for the Majorana neutrino mass, assuming the knowledge of the phase space factor and the nuclear matrix element for the given isotope. Detectors (NEMO-3 [6, 7]) and, more recently, liquid scintillator detectors (EXO [8], Kamland-Zen [9])

CUORE and the bolometric technique
CUORE background budget
Background
Status of the CUORE experiment
Findings
CUORE-0
Conclusions
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