Bonn 2020 – scientific programme
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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne
HK 28: Astroparticle Physics I
HK 28.4: Talk
Wednesday, April 1, 2020, 15:00–15:15, J-HS B
Investigation of the KATRIN tritium source properties — •Fabian Friedel for the KATRIN collaboration — Karlsruher Institut für Technologie
The aim of the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment is to determine the effective mass of the electron antineutrino with a sensitivity of 200 meV/c2 (90% C.L.). This will be achieved by measuring the β-spectrum of tritium close to the kinematic endpoint at 18.6 keV. The tritium gas is injected into the center of the Windowless Gaseous Tritium Source (WGTS) with an inlet flow of 1.8 mbar ℓ/s. The neutral gas is pumped at both ends of the 10 m long WGTS beam line while the charged particles are guided by a magnetic field of up to 3.6 T. In order to assure stable conditions for the neutrino mass measurement the source parameters like temperature and gas density have to be stabilized on the per mille level. In addition, a number of systematic effects have to be understood. One of them is related to the formation of a plasma consisting of tritium ions as well as β- and thermal electrons. This may lead to spatial and temporal potential inhomogeneities which would smear out the measured β-spectrum. During two measurement campaigns with tritium in 2019 the WGTS properties and systematics have been studied in detail. The most important results of these investigations will be presented with the main focus on the investigations of the tritium plasma. This work has been supported by BMBF (05A17VK2), KSETA and the Helmholtz Association.