Author:
Adams D. Q.,Alduino C.,Alfonso K.,Avignone F. T. III,Azzolini O.,Bari G.,Bellini F.,Benato G.,Biassoni M.,Branca A.,Brofferio C.,Bucci C.,Camilleri J.,Caminata A.,Campani A.,Canonica L.,Cao X. G.,Capelli S.,Cappelli L.,Cardani L.,Carniti P.,Casali N.,Celi E.,Chiesa D.,Clemenza M.,Copello S.,Cosmelli C.,Cremonesi O.,Creswick R. J.,D’Addabbo A.,Dafinei I.,Davis C. J.,Dell’Oro S.,Domizio S. Di,Dompè V.,Fang D. Q.,Fantini G.,Faverzani M.,Ferri E.,Ferroni F.,Fiorini E.,Franceschi M. A.,Freedman S. J.,Fu S. H.,Fujikawa B. K.,Giachero A.,Gironi L.,Giuliani A.,Gorla P.,Gotti C.,Gutierrez T. D.,Han K.,Heeger K. M.,Huang R. G.,Huang H. Z.,Johnston J.,Keppel G.,Kolomensky Yu. G.,Ligi C.,Ma L.,Ma Y. G.,Marini L.,Maruyama R. H.,Mayer D.,Mei Y.,Moggi N.,Morganti S.,Napolitano T.,Nastasi M.,Nikkel J.,Nones C.,Norman E. B.,Nucciotti A.,Nutini I.,O’Donnell T.,Ouellet J. L.,Pagan S.,Pagliarone C. E.,Pagnanini L.,Pallavicini M.,Pattavina L.,Pavan M.,Pessina G.,Pettinacci V.,Pira C.,Pirro S.,Pozzi S.,Previtali E.,Puiu A.,Rosenfeld C.,Rusconi C.,Sakai M.,Sangiorgio S.,Schmidt B.,Scielzo N. D.,Sharma V.,Singh V.,Sisti M.,Speller D.,Surukuchi P. T.,Taffarello L.,Terranova F.,Tomei C.,Vetter K. J.,Vignati M.,Wagaarachchi S. L.,Wang B. S.,Welliver B.,Wilson J.,Wilson K.,Winslow L. A.,Zimmermann S.,Zucchelli S.
Abstract
AbstractThe CUORE experiment is a large bolometric array searching for the lepton number violating neutrino-less double beta decay ($$0\nu \beta \beta $$
0
ν
β
β
) in the isotope $$\mathrm {^{130}Te}$$
130
Te
. In this work we present the latest results on two searches for the double beta decay (DBD) of $$\mathrm {^{130}Te}$$
130
Te
to the first $$0^{+}_2$$
0
2
+
excited state of $$\mathrm {^{130}Xe}$$
130
Xe
: the $$0\nu \beta \beta $$
0
ν
β
β
decay and the Standard Model-allowed two-neutrinos double beta decay ($$2\nu \beta \beta $$
2
ν
β
β
). Both searches are based on a 372.5 kg$$\times $$
×
yr TeO$$_2$$
2
exposure. The de-excitation gamma rays emitted by the excited Xe nucleus in the final state yield a unique signature, which can be searched for with low background by studying coincident events in two or more bolometers. The closely packed arrangement of the CUORE crystals constitutes a significant advantage in this regard. The median limit setting sensitivities at 90% Credible Interval (C.I.) of the given searches were estimated as $$\mathrm {S^{0\nu }_{1/2} = 5.6 \times 10^{24} \, \mathrm {yr}}$$
S
1
/
2
0
ν
=
5.6
×
10
24
yr
for the $${0\nu \beta \beta }$$
0
ν
β
β
decay and $$\mathrm {S^{2\nu }_{1/2} = 2.1 \times 10^{24} \, \mathrm {yr}}$$
S
1
/
2
2
ν
=
2.1
×
10
24
yr
for the $${2\nu \beta \beta }$$
2
ν
β
β
decay. No significant evidence for either of the decay modes was observed and a Bayesian lower bound at $$90\%$$
90
%
C.I. on the decay half lives is obtained as: $$\mathrm {(T_{1/2})^{0\nu }_{0^+_2} > 5.9 \times 10^{24} \, \mathrm {yr}}$$
(
T
1
/
2
)
0
2
+
0
ν
>
5.9
×
10
24
yr
for the $$0\nu \beta \beta $$
0
ν
β
β
mode and $$\mathrm {(T_{1/2})^{2\nu }_{0^+_2} > 1.3 \times 10^{24} \, \mathrm {yr}}$$
(
T
1
/
2
)
0
2
+
2
ν
>
1.3
×
10
24
yr
for the $$2\nu \beta \beta $$
2
ν
β
β
mode. These represent the most stringent limits on the DBD of $$^{130}$$
130
Te to excited states and improve by a factor $$\sim 5$$
∼
5
the previous results on this process.
Funder
National Science Foundation
U.S. Department of Energy
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous),Engineering (miscellaneous)