Bonn 2020 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 36: Neutrino physics without accelerators III

T 36.6: Talk

Tuesday, March 31, 2020, 18:15–18:30, L-2.004

Investigating the background of the GERDA experiment by ⁷⁶Ge(n,p)⁷⁶Ga reaction studies — •Marie Pichotta, Konrad Schmidt, Steffen Turkat, Birgit Zatschler, and Kai Zuber — TU Dresden IKTP, Dresden, Deutschland

The GERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) is located 1400 m underground in the Gran Sasso mountains (Italy) searching for the neutrinoless double beta decay of ⁷⁶Ge. The discovery of this extremely rare process with an expected Q-value of 2039 keV would prove the Majorana character of neutrinos and consequently physics beyond Standard Model. For an explicit identification of a signal caused by the neutrinoless double beta decay a precise understanding of the background components is crucial.

Previous work indicates gamma rays from the decay of ⁷⁶Ga in the region of interest (ROI) which can be produced by neutrons via (n,p)-reactions with ⁷⁶Ge and therefore contribute to the background in the ROI. For the investigation of this potential background an enriched Ge-sample consisting of the same isotopic composition as the GERDA detectors will be activated by neutrons from a DT generator located at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). Experimental procedure and preliminary works will be presented. This project is supported by BMBF (05A17OD1).