Exploring the neutrinoless double beta decay in the inverted neutrino hierarchy with bolometric detectors

Neutrinoless double beta decay ( 0νββ ) is one of the most sensitive probes for physics beyond the Standard Model, providing unique information on the nature of neutrinos. In this paper we review the status and outlook for bolometric 0νββ  decay searches. We summarize recent advances in background suppression demonstrated using bolometers with simultaneous readout of heat and light signals. We simulate several configurations of a future CUORE-like bolometer array which would utilize these improvements and present the sensitivity reach of a hypothetical next-generation bolometric 0νββ  experiment. We demonstrate that a bolometric experiment with the isotope mass of about 1 ton is capable of reaching the sensitivity to the effective Majorana neutrino mass ( |mee| ) of order 10–20 meV, thus completely exploring the so-called inverted neutrino mass hierarchy region. We highlight the main challenges and identify priorities for an R&D program addressing them

Technical Design Report for PANDA Electromagnetic Calorimeter (EMC)

This document presents the technical layout and the envisaged performance of the Electromagnetic Calorimeter (EMC) for the PANDA target spectrometer. The EMC has been designed to meet the physics goals of the PANDA experiment, which is being developed for the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) at Darmstadt, Germany. The performance figures are based on extensive prototype tests and radiation hardness studies. The document shows that the EMC is ready for construction up to the front-end electronics interface

Initial performance of the CUORE-0 experiment

CUORE-0 is a cryogenic detector that uses an array of tellurium dioxide bolometers to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of 130Te . We present the first data analysis with 7.1kg·y of total TeO2 exposure focusing on background measurements and energy resolution. The background rates in the neutrinoless double-beta decay region of interest (2.47 to 2.57MeV ) and in the α background-dominated region (2.70 to 3.90MeV ) have been measured to be 0.071±0.011 and 0.019±0.002counts/(keV·kg·y) , respectively. The latter result represents a factor of 6 improvement from a predecessor experiment, Cuoricino. The results verify our understanding of the background sources in CUORE-0, which is the basis of extrapolations to the full CUORE detector. The obtained energy resolution (full width at half maximum) in the region of interest is 5.7keV . Based on the measured background rate and energy resolution in the region of interest, CUORE-0 half-life sensitivity is expected to surpass the observed lower bound of Cuoricino with one year of live time

Physics Performance Report for PANDA: Strong Interaction Studies with Antiprotons

To study fundamental questions of hadron and nuclear physics in interactions of antiprotons with nucleons and nuclei, the universal PANDA detector will be built. Gluonic excitations, the physics of strange and charm quarks and nucleon structure studies will be performed with unprecedented accuracy thereby allowing high-precision tests of the strong interaction. The proposed PANDA detector is a state-of-the art internal target detector at the HESR at FAIR allowing the detection and identification of neutral and charged particles generated within the relevant angular and energy range. This report presents a summary of the physics accessible at PANDA and what performance can be expected