Bochum 2018 – scientific programme

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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne

HK 49: Astroparticle Physics II and Applications

HK 49.1: Group Report

Thursday, March 1, 2018, 14:00–14:30, HZO 100

Latest results from the GERDA experiment and status of the LEGEND experiment — •Bernhard Schwingenheuer — Max-Planck-Institut Kernphysik, Heidelberg

Since the discovery of neutrinos more than 60 years have passed. Despite intensive research many if their properties are still unknown. Especially relevant for particle physics and cosmology is the question whether neutrinos are their own anti-particles. In this case, neutrinoless double beta decay should exist: (A,Z) --> (A,Z+2) + 2e-. Because of its relevance there are many experimental programs ongoing searching for this decay. One isotope of interest is Ge-76. The GERDA collaboration is operating germanium detectors made out of material with enriched Ge-76 isotope fraction, i.e. source and detector are identical. The experimental signature is a line at the Q value of the decay. Germanium detectors offer currently the best energy resolution and GERDA reaches the lowest background if normalized by the energy resolution at the Q value. This motivates the extension of the program which is pursued by the LEGEND collaboration. This talk reviews the latest results from GERDA and the status of the planned LEGEND experiment.