Research in Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay

The research objective of this proposal is to search for a rare nuclear decay process that would provide deep insight into the nature of a subatomic particle called a neutrino. Neutrinos are one of the most abundant particles continuously sweeping through the universe and right through the Earth. They have a mass much smaller than any other matter particle, and yet we have only recently begun to understand them. Observation of this decay would have profound implications for the standard picture of particle physics by demonstrating that neutrinos are unlike most other particles with an unusually small mass and being identical to their antimatter particle. The rate of this decay is incredibly small and may only produce a few signature events in a dedicated detector per year. More abundant forms of natural nuclear decay will easily shadow the rare signature of interest unless an experiment is optimized to discriminate the desired signal against a broad range of backgrounds. Therefore, observation of this rare process demands a careful study and implementation of signal processing, detector design, and new levels of background suppression. The R&D required to field such an experiment is at the cutting edge of low background techniques and must establish unprecedented levels of material purity and novel detector designs. These advances can support new commercial applications in areas such as ultra-pure materials, radiation detection, Homeland Security, and environmental monitoring.