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Depth Requirements for a Tonne-scale 76Ge Neutrinoless Double-beta Decay Experiment

Publication ,  Journal Article
Collaboration, TMAJORANA; Aguayo, E; III, FTA; Back, HO; Barabash, AS; Bergevin, M; Bertrand, FE; Boswell, M; Brudanin, V; Busch, M; Chan, Y-D ...
September 19, 2011

Neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments can potentially determine the Majorana or Dirac nature of the neutrino, and aid in understanding the neutrino absolute mass scale and hierarchy. Future 76Ge-based searches target a half-life sensitivity of >10^27 y to explore the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy. Reaching this sensitivity will require a background rate of <1 count tonne^-1 y^-1 in a 4-keV-wide spectral region of interest surrounding the Q value of the decay. We investigate the overburden required to reach this background goal in a tonne-scale experiment with a compact (copper and lead) shield based on Monte Carlo calculations of cosmic-ray background rates. We find that, in light of the presently large uncertainties in these types of calculations, a site with an underground depth >~5200 mwe is required for a tonne-scale experiment with a compact shield similar to the planned 40-kg MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR. The required overburden is highly dependent on the chosen shielding configuration and could be relaxed significantly if, for example, a liquid cryogen and water shield, or an active neutron shield were employed. Operation of the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR and GERDA detectors will serve to reduce the uncertainties on cosmic-ray background rates and will impact the choice of shielding style and location for a future tonne-scale experiment. 4/2013: The peer review process revealed that one of the veto rejection factors (the factor-of-4 described on p12) needs to be better established. Our reevaluation of this parameter to date has not yielded strong support for the value stated in the manuscript, and we require further study to develop a solid estimate. This further study will supersede the work described in this manuscript, and may or may not lead to the same conclusion regarding the ~>5200 mwe requirement for future tonne-scale 76Ge neutrinoless double beta decay experiments.

Duke Scholars

Publication Date

September 19, 2011
 

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Collaboration, T. M. A. J. O. R. A. N. A., Aguayo, E., III, F. T. A., Back, H. O., Barabash, A. S., Bergevin, M., … Zhang, C. (2011). Depth Requirements for a Tonne-scale 76Ge Neutrinoless Double-beta Decay Experiment.
Collaboration, The M. A. J. O. R. A. N. A., E. Aguayo, FT Avignone III, H. O. Back, A. S. Barabash, M. Bergevin, F. E. Bertrand, et al. “Depth Requirements for a Tonne-scale 76Ge Neutrinoless Double-beta Decay Experiment,” September 19, 2011.
Collaboration TMAJORANA, Aguayo E, III FTA, Back HO, Barabash AS, Bergevin M, et al. Depth Requirements for a Tonne-scale 76Ge Neutrinoless Double-beta Decay Experiment. 2011 Sep 19;
Collaboration, The M. A. J. O. R. A. N. A., et al. Depth Requirements for a Tonne-scale 76Ge Neutrinoless Double-beta Decay Experiment. Sept. 2011.
Collaboration TMAJORANA, Aguayo E, III FTA, Back HO, Barabash AS, Bergevin M, Bertrand FE, Boswell M, Brudanin V, Busch M, Chan Y-D, Christofferson CD, Collar JI, Combs DC, Cooper RJ, Detwiler JA, Doe PJ, Efremenko Y, Egorov V, Ejiri H, Elliott SR, Esterline J, Fast JE, Fields N, Finnerty P, Fraenkle FM, Gehman VM, Giovanetti GK, Green MP, Guiseppe VE, Gusey K, Hallin AL, Hazama R, Henning R, Hime A, Hoppe EW, Horton M, Howard S, Howe MA, Johnson RA, Keeter KJ, Keillor ME, Keller C, Kephart JD, Kidd MF, Knecht A, Kochetov O, Konovalov SI, Kouzes RT, LaFerriere BD, LaRoque BH, Leon J, Leviner LE, Loach JC, MacMullin S, Marino MG, Martin RD, Mei D-M, Merriman JH, Miller ML, Mizouni L, Nomachi M, Orrell JL, Overman NR, II DGP, Poon AWP, Perumpilly G, Prior G, Radford DC, Rielage K, Robertson RGH, Ronquest MC, Schubert AG, Shima T, Shirchenko M, Snavely KJ, Sobolev V, Steele D, Strain J, Thomas K, Timkin V, Tornow W, Vanyushin I, Varner RL, Vetter K, Vorren K, Wilkerson JF, Wolfe BA, Yakushev E, Young AR, Yu C-H, Yumatov V, Zhang C. Depth Requirements for a Tonne-scale 76Ge Neutrinoless Double-beta Decay Experiment. 2011 Sep 19;

Publication Date

September 19, 2011