Dortmund 2021 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik
T 68: Neutrino physics without accelerators III
T 68.4: Talk
Wednesday, March 17, 2021, 16:50–17:05, Tr
The Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless double beta Decay - LEGEND-1000 — •Christoph Wiesinger for the LEGEND collaboration — Physik-Department, Technische Universität München, Garching
Hidden by their tiny mass, neutrinos may carry a profound secret with far-reaching consequences for both particle physics and cosmology. Given zero electric charge and no color, they may be Majorana particles - fermions which are their own anti-particles. Double beta decay offers a unique probe for this hypothesis. Finding no neutrinos, but solely two electrons carrying the full decay energy, would prove lepton number non-conservation and reveal the Majorana character of neutrinos. The superb spectroscopic performance of high-purity germanium detectors provides exceptional discovery potential for the mono-energetic peak and separates it from the standard-model allowed continuum. Event topology information and outstanding intrinsic radiopurity allow for an ultra-low background level. Following the initial 200-kg phase, LEGEND-1000 will expand the reach of current neutrinoless double beta decay experiments by two orders of magnitude, beyond 1028 years of half-life, probing the full parameter space spanned by the inverted ordering scenario. The status of the LEGEND experimental program, as well as the requirements and challenges for the ton-scale phase will be covered in this talk. This work has been supported in part by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), the German Research Foundation (DFG) via the SFB1258 and the Max Planck Society (MPG).