2 research outputs found
Observation of Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering
The coherent elastic scattering of neutrinos off nuclei has eluded detection
for four decades, even though its predicted cross-section is the largest by far
of all low-energy neutrino couplings. This mode of interaction provides new
opportunities to study neutrino properties, and leads to a miniaturization of
detector size, with potential technological applications. We observe this
process at a 6.7-sigma confidence level, using a low-background, 14.6-kg
CsI[Na] scintillator exposed to the neutrino emissions from the Spallation
Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Characteristic
signatures in energy and time, predicted by the Standard Model for this
process, are observed in high signal-to-background conditions. Improved
constraints on non-standard neutrino interactions with quarks are derived from
this initial dataset
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Search for Neutrinoless Double-β Decay in ^{76}Ge with the Majorana Demonstrator.
The Majorana Collaboration is operating an array of high purity Ge detectors to search for neutrinoless double-β decay in ^{76}Ge. The Majorana Demonstrator comprises 44.1 kg of Ge detectors (29.7 kg enriched in ^{76}Ge) split between two modules contained in a low background shield at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. Here we present results from data taken during construction, commissioning, and the start of full operations. We achieve unprecedented energy resolution of 2.5 keV FWHM at Q_{ββ} and a very low background with no observed candidate events in 9.95 kg yr of enriched Ge exposure, resulting in a lower limit on the half-life of 1.9×10^{25}  yr (90% C.L.). This result constrains the effective Majorana neutrino mass to below 240-520 meV, depending on the matrix elements used. In our experimental configuration with the lowest background, the background is 4.0_{-2.5}^{+3.1}  counts/(FWHM t yr)