Measurements of Neutrino Mass


Book Description

"This volume offers a valuable insight into various aspects of the ongoing work directed at measuring neutrino mass. It took twenty years to refute the assertions of Bethe and Peierls that neutrinos were not observable, but it has since been realised that much can be learnt from these particles. The moral is, as Fiorini argues here, that the study of neutrinos was and remains demanding but rewarding. Subjects addressed in this volume include: clarifying the meaning of the Klapdor-Kleingrothaus results, probing the Majorana nature of neutrinos, observing lepton number violating effects for the first time, studying the end point of the spectrum in the search for neutrino masses and speculating whether it is possible to measure neutrino masses in cosmology. Lectures are enriched with rich historical overviews and valuable introductory material. Attention is also given to theoretical topics such as the evolution of the concept of mass in particle physics, a status report on neutrino oscillations and current discussion on neutrino masses. The reader is further reminded that neutrino masses may also have some bearing on the very origin of the matter among us, and have many deep links with other important lines of current physics research." --Book Jacket.







Neutrino Mass


Book Description

Reviews the current state of knowledge of neutrino masses and the related question of neutrino oscillations. After an overview of the theory of neutrino masses and mixings, detailed accounts are given of the laboratory limits on neutrino masses, astrophysical and cosmological constraints on those masses, experimental results on neutrino oscillations, the theoretical interpretation of those results, and theoretical models of neutrino masses and mixings. The book concludes with an examination of the potential of long-baseline experiments. This is an essential reference text for workers in elementary-particle physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics.




Development of Scalable Approaches to Neutrino Mass Measurement with The Project 8 Experiment


Book Description

Neutrinos are fundamental particles in the standard model and play an important role in the current understanding of the universe; however, the mass of the neutrino one of the most fundamental parameters for any particle, is currently unknown. This fact represents a gaping hole in our current knowledge of the universe that may provide clues to the energy scale of physics beyond the standard model. This dissertation summarizes research and development as a member of the Project 8 collaboration towards an experiment to measure the neutrino mass with a sensitivity below $50$~$\mathrm{meV}/\mathrm{c}^2$, which is an order of magnitude less than the most sensitive direct measurements of the neutrino mass to date. Project 8 will perform this measurement using Cyclotron Radiation Emission Spectroscopy (CRES) to measure the beta-decay endpoint spectrum of atomic tritium. I present an analysis of the signal reconstruction performance of an antenna array system designed to perform large-scale CRES measurements in cubic-meter volumes. Next, I discuss an approach to calibrating an antenna-based CRES experiment using a unique probe antenna designed to mimic radiation from CRES events. Finally, I present design studies for a resonant cavity that could be used to perform a CRES experiment with atomic tritium at multi-cubic-meter scales.







Neutrino Cosmology


Book Description

A self-contained guide to the role played by neutrinos in the Universe and how their properties influence cosmological and astrophysical observations.







Review of Neutrino Mass Measurements


Book Description

The current status of the experimental search for neutrino mass is reviewed, with emphasis on direct kinematic methods. New data on the [tau] neutrino from the Argus collaboration have reduced the upper mass limit a factor of 2. The situation concerning the electron neutrino mass as measured in tritium beta decay is essentially unchanged from a year ago. Simpson and Hime report finding evidence for a 17-keV neutrino in the .beta. decay of 35S. There may be evidence for neutrino mass and mixing in the SN1987a data. 62 refs., 4 figs.




Final Scientific and Technical Report


Book Description

In this work, we made material progress towards future measurements of the mass of the neutrino. The neutrino is a fundamental particle, first observed in the 1950s and subjected to particularly intense study over the past 20 years. It is now known to have some, non-zero mass, but we are in an unusual situation of knowing the mass exists but not knowing what value it takes. The mass may be determined by precise measurements of certain radioactive decay distributions, particularly the beta decay of tritium. The KATRIN experiment is an international project which is nearing the beginning of a tritium measurement campaign using a large electrostatic spectrumeter. This research included participation in KATRIN, including construction and delivery of a key calibration subsystem, the ``Rear Section''. To obtain sensitivity beyond KATRIN's, new techniques are required; this work included R\ & D on a new technique we call CRES (Cyclotron Resonance Electron Spectroscopy) which has promise to enable even-more-sensitive tritium decay measurements. We successfully carried out CRES spectroscopy in a model system in 2014, making an important step towards the design of a next-generation tritium experiment with new neutrino mass measurement abilities.