Abstract
The Majorana Collaboration is using an array of high-purity Ge detectors to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in 76Ge. Searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay are understood to be the only viable experimental method for testing the Majorana nature of the neutrino. Observation of this decay would imply violation of lepton number, that neutrinos are Majorana in nature, and provide information on the neutrino mass. The Majorana Demonstrator comprises 44.1 kg of p-type point-contact Ge detectors (29.7 kg enriched in 76Ge) surrounded by a low-background shield system. The experiment achieved a high efficiency of converting raw Ge material to detectors and an unprecedented detector energy resolution of 2.5 keV FWHM at Qββ. The Majorana collaboration began taking physics data in 2016. This paper summarizes key construction aspects of the Demonstrator and shows preliminary results from initial data.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 01006 |
Journal | EPJ Web of Conferences |
Volume | 178 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 16 2018 |
Event | 16th International Symposium on Capture Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy and Related Topics, CGS 2017 - Shanghai, China Duration: Sep 18 2017 → Sep 22 2017 |
Funding
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, the Particle Astrophysics and Nuclear Physics Programs of the National Science Foundation, the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders Fund, the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, and the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This research used resources of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725.