GENIUS - A New Underground Observatory for Non-Accelerator Particle Physics

The GENIUS (Germanium in Liquid Nitrogen Underground Setup) project has been proposed in 1997 [KK-BEY97] as first third generation double beta decay project, with a sensitivity aiming down to a level of an effective neutrino mass of < 0.01eV or less. Such sensitivity is important to fix the structure of the neutrino mass matrix with high accuracy, which cannot be done by neutrino oscillation experiments alone. GENIUS will allow broad access also to many other topics of physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics at the multi-TeV scale. For search of cold dark matter GENIUS will cover a large part of the parameter space of predictions of SUSY for neutralinos as dark matter [Bed-KK2,Ell,KK-LowNu2]. Finally, GENIUS has the potential to be a real-time detector for low-energy (pp and 7{Be}) solar neutrinos [Bau-KK,KK-LowNu2]. A GENIUS-Test Facility has just been funded and will come into operation by end of 2002.Comment: 5 pages, revtex, 6 figures,Talk was presented at International Workshop on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics (TAUP 2001), Date: September 8 - 12, 2001, Location: Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy, publ. in Nucl. Phys. B (Proc. Suppl.) (2002), eds. A. Bettini et al., Conference Info - Home Page: http://taup2001.lngs.infn.it/lucidi/h1.htm, Home Page of Heidelberg Non-Accelerator Particle Physics Group: http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/non_acc/Talks.htm

Neutrino Mass from Laboratory: Contribution of Double Beta Decay to the Neutrino Mass Matrix

Double beta decay is indispensable to solve the question of the neutrino mass matrix together with $\nu$ oscillation experiments. The most sensitive experiment - since eight years the HEIDELBERG-MOSCOW experiment in Gran-Sasso - already now, with the experimental limit of $< 0.26$ eV practically excludes degenerate $\nu$ mass scenarios allowing neutrinos as hot dark matter in the universe for the smallangle MSW solution of the solar neutrino problem. It probes cosmological models including hot dark matter already now on the level of future satellite experiments MAP and PLANCK. It further probes many topics of beyond SM physics at the TeV scale. Future experiments should give access to the multi-TeV range and complement on many ways the search for new physics at future colliders like LHC and NLC. For neutrino physics some of them (GENIUS) will allow to test almost all neutrino mass scenarios allowed by the present neutrino oscillation experiments.Comment: 5 pages, revtex, 6 figures, Talk was presented at International Europhysics Neutrino Oscillation Workshop, Conca Specchiulla (Otranto, Italy), September 9-16, 2000, to be published in Nucl. Phys. B (2001), Home Page of Heidelberg-Moscow Experiment: http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/non_acc

First 10 kg of Naked Germanium Detectors in Liquid Nitrogen installed in the GENIUS-Test-Facility

The first four naked high purity Germanium detectors were installed successfully in liquid nitrogen in the GENIUS-Test-Facility (GENIUS-TF) in the GRAN SASSO Underground Laboratory on May 5, 2003. This is the first time ever that this novel technique aiming at extreme background reduction in search for rare decays is going to be tested underground. First operational parameters are presented.Comment: 10 pages, latex2e, 8 figures, Was presented (first presentation) at 4th International Conference on Particle Physics Beyond the Standard Model BEYOND'2003, Castle Ringberg, Germany, 9-14 June, 2003, Springer, Heidelberg, Germany, 2003, edited by H.V. Klapdor-Kleingrothau

85Kr and 39Ar background in GENIUS

GENIUS is a proposal for a large scale detector of rare events like double beta decay, cold dark matter and low-energy solar neutrinos in real time. The idea of GENIUS is to operate a large amount of ``naked'' Ge detectors in liquid nitrogen, with the aim of reducing the background down to a level of 10^(-3) counts/kg keV y. In this work we investigate the contribution to the background of GENIUS coming from argon (39Ar) and krypton (85Kr) contamination in the liquid nitrogen.Comment: In press, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment (2003

Search for Dark Matter by GENIUS-TF and GENIUS

The new project GENIUS will cover a wide range of the parameter space of predictions of SUSY for neutralinos as cold dark matter. Together with DAMA it will be the only experiment which can probe the seasonal modulation signal. Concerning hot dark matter GENIUS will be able to fix the (effective) neutrino mass with high accuracy. A GENIUS Test Facility has just been funded and will come into operation by end of 2002.Comment: 3 pages, revtex, 2 figures, Talk was presented at International Workshop on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics (TAUP 2001), September 8 - 12, 2001, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy, publ. in Nucl. Phys. B (Proc. Suppl.) (2002), eds. A. Bettini et al., Conference Info - Home Page: http://taup2001.lngs.infn.it/lucidi/b2/b2.pdf, Home Page of Heidlberg Non-Accelerator Particle Physics Group: http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/non_acc/Talks.htm

Support of Evidence for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay

Indirect support for the evidence of neutrinoless double beta decay reported recently, is obtained by analysis of other Ge double beta experiments, which yield independent information on the background in the region of Q_(beta-beta). Some statistical features as well as background simulations with GEANT 4 of the HEIDELBERG-MOSCOW experiment are discussed which disprove recent criticism.Comment: 15 pages, latex2e, 13 figure

A digital multi-channel spectroscopy system with 100 MHz flash ADC module for the GENIUS-TF and GENIUS projects

In this paper we will present the first results of applying a digital processing technology in low-level gamma spectroscopy with HPGE detectors. An experimental gamma spectrometer using Flash ADC module is built and tested. The test system is now under development and shows major advantages over the traditional analog technologies. It will be installed for the GENIUS-TF and GENIUS projects in Gran-Sasso in early 2003.Comment: 8 pages, latex, 6 figures, Published in NIM, Volume 498, Issues 1-3, Pages 334-339, also see Home Page of Heidelberg Non-Accelerator Particle Physics Group: http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/non_acc

Data Acquisition and Analysis of the 76Ge Double Beta Experiment in Gran Sasso 1990-2003

Data acquisition in a long running underground experiment has its specific experimental challenges, concerning data acquisition, stability of the experiment and background reduction. These problems are addressed here for the HEIDELBERG-MOSCOW experiment, which collected data in the period August 1990 - May 2003. The measurement and the analysis of the data is presented. The duty cycle of the experiment was ~80%, the collected statistics is 71.7 kgy. The background achieved in the energy region of the Q value for double beta decay is 0.11 events/kg y keV. The two-neutrino accompanied half-life is determined on the basis of more than 100 000 events. The confidence level for the neutrinoless signal has been improved to a 4 sigma level.Comment: Full version (50 pages, 36 figures, 9 tables), zipped ps file (size ~21MB or pdf format (size ~26MB), can be found in http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/non_acc/super.html (corrected typos) In press in NIM A, 200

Search for Cold Dark Matter and Solar Neutrinos with GENIUS and GENIUS-TF

The new project GENIUS will cover a wide range of the parameter space of predictions of SUSY for neutralinos as cold dark matter. Further it has the potential to be a real-time detector for low-energy (pp and 7Be) solar neutrinos. A GENIUS Test Facility has just been funded and will come into operation by end of 2002.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, 3 figures, Talk was presented at International School on Nuclear Physics, 23rd Course: Neutrinos in Astro, Particle and Nuclear Physics, Erice, September 18 - 26, 2001, Publ. in Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics, Vol. 48 (2002) 283 - 286, Home Page of Heidelberg Non-Accelerator Particle Physics Group: http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/non_acc

A superformula for neutrinoless double beta decay II: The short range part

A general Lorentz-invariant parameterization for the short-range part of the 0vBB decay rate is derived. Combined with the long range part already published this general parameterization in terms of effective B-L violating couplings allows one to extract the 0vBB limits on arbitrary lepton number violating theories.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX, 2 figure