Aachen 2019 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 32: Neutrinophysik II

T 32.5: Talk

Tuesday, March 26, 2019, 17:20–17:35, H11

Investigation of EC/ β⁺ -decays with the COBRA experiment — •Juliane Volkmer for the COBRA collaboration — TU Dresden, Institut für Kern- und Teilchenphysik, Germany

Besides the very commonly investigated β⁻β⁻ -decay also β⁺β⁺-decay modes can be of great interest. However, they are more difficult to observe than their β⁻β⁻ -counterpart – only the EC/EC of ⁷⁸Kr has been managed to be observed, yet. Of the three β⁺β⁺ -decay modes also the EC/ β⁺ -decay is promising to be detected, though. It has a lower half-life than the β⁺β⁺ -decay and creates a more characteristic signature in the detector array than the EC/EC. Measuring the half-life of 2 ν EC/ β⁺ -events would help to probe models used to calculate nuclear matrix elements, while 0 ν EC/ β⁺ -events are especially sensitive to the involvement of right-handed currents in the decay mechanism, thus, could help to gain a deeper understanding of the general physics involved.

The COBRA demonstrator, consisting of 4×4×4 CdZnTe semiconductor detectors, provides three different isotopes capable of EC/ β⁺ -decays. Additionally, the experiment’s granularity greatly improves the probability to recognize the events’ characteristic decay structures.

This talk’s topic will be the investigation of double beta-decay modes with the COBRA experiment and focus on EC/ β⁺ -decays. First investigations of the prospects and feasibility of the EC/ β⁺ -decays’ investigation in general as well as with the COBRA experiment in particular and the current status of the data analysis will be discussed.