Search results for "semileptonic decay"
showing 10 items of 141 documents
Borexino’s search for low-energy neutrino and antineutrino signals correlated with gamma-ray bursts
2017
International audience; A search for neutrino and antineutrino events correlated with 2350 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is performed with Borexino data collected between December 2007 and November 2015. No statistically significant excess over background is observed. We look for electron antineutrinos ( ν¯e ) that inverse beta decay on protons with energies from 1.8 MeV to 15 MeV and set the best limit on the neutrino fluence from GRBs below 8 MeV. The signals from neutrinos and antineutrinos from GRBs that scatter on electrons are also searched for, a detection channel made possible by the particularly radio-pure scintillator of Borexino. We obtain currently the best limits on the neutrino f…
Searches for lepton number violating $K^+$ decays
2019
The NA62 experiment at CERN reports a search for the lepton number violating decays K+ -> pi(-)e(+)e(+) and K+ -> pi(-)mu(+)mu(+) using a data sample collected in 2017. No signals are observed, and upper limits on the branching fractions of these decays of 2.2 x 10(-10) and 4.2 x 10(-11) are obtained, respectively, at 90% confidence level. These upper limits improve on previously reported measurements by factors of 3 and 2, respectively.
Experimental study of $^{100}$Tc $\beta$ decay with total absorption $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy
2017
International audience; The β decay of Tc100 has been studied by using the total absorption γ-ray spectroscopy technique at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line facility in Jyväskylä. In this work the new Decay Total Absorption γ-ray Spectrometer in coincidence with a cylindrical plastic β detector has been employed. The β intensity to the ground state obtained from the analysis is in good agreement with previous high-resolution measurements. However, differences in the feeding to the first-excited state as well as weak feeding to a new level at high excitation energy have been deduced from this experiment. Theoretical calculations performed in the quasiparticle random-phase approximatio…
Measuring nuclear reaction cross sections to extract information on neutrinoless double beta decay
2017
Neutrinoless double beta decay (0v\b{eta}\b{eta}) is considered the best potential resource to access the absolute neutrino mass scale. Moreover, if observed, it will signal that neutrinos are their own anti-particles (Majorana particles). Presently, this physics case is one of the most important research "beyond Standard Model" and might guide the way towards a Grand Unified Theory of fundamental interactions. Since the 0v\b{eta}\b{eta} decay process involves nuclei, its analysis necessarily implies nuclear structure issues. In the NURE project, supported by a Starting Grant of the European Research Council (ERC), nuclear reactions of double charge-exchange (DCE) are used as a tool to extr…
Improved calculations of beta decay backgrounds to new physics in liquid xenon detectors
2020
We present high-precision theoretical predictions for the electron energy spectra for the ground-state to ground-state $\beta$ decays of $^{214}$Pb, $^{212}$Pb, and $^{85}$Kr most relevant to the background of liquid xenon dark matter detectors. The effects of nuclear structure on the spectral shapes are taken into account using large-scale shell model calculations. Final spectra also include atomic screening and exchange effects. The impact of nuclear structure effects on the $^{214}$Pb and $^{212}$Pb spectra below $\approx100$ keV, pertinent for several searches for new physics, are found to be comparatively larger than those from the atomic effects alone. We find that the full calculatio…
Dy159 Electron-Capture: A New Candidate for Neutrino Mass Determination
2021
International audience; The ground state to ground state electron-capture Q value of Dy159 (3/2-) has been measured directly using the double Penning trap mass spectrometer JYFLTRAP. A value of 364.73(19) keV was obtained from a measurement of the cyclotron frequency ratio of the decay parent Dy159 and the decay daughter Tb159 ions using the novel phase-imaging ion-cyclotron resonance technique. The Q values for allowed Gamow-Teller transition to 5/2- and the third-forbidden unique transition to 11/2+ state with excitation energies of 363.5449(14) keV and 362.050(40) keV in Tb159 were determined to be 1.18(19) keV and 2.68(19) keV, respectively. The high-precision Q value of transition 3/2-…
Improved measurement of $^8$B solar neutrinos with $1.5 kt·y$ of Borexino exposure
2017
We report on an improved measurement of the $^8$B solar neutrino interaction rate with the Borexino experiment at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. Neutrinos are detected via their elastic scattering on electrons in a large volume of liquid scintillator. The measured rate of scattered electrons above 3 MeV of energy is $0.223\substack{+0.015 \\ -0.016}\,(stat)\,\substack{+0.006 \\ -0.006}\,(syst)$ cpd/100 t, which corresponds to an observed solar neutrino flux assuming no neutrino flavor conversion of $\Phi\substack{\rm ES \\ ^8\rm B}=2.57\substack{+0.17 \\ -0.18}(stat)\substack{+0.07\\ -0.07}(syst)\times$10$^6$ cm$^{-2}\,$s$^{-1}$. This measurement exploits the active volume of the …
Direct measurement of the mass difference of $^{72}$As-$^{72}$Ge rules out $^{72}$As as a promising $\beta$-decay candidate to determine the neutrino…
2021
We report the first direct determination of the ground-state to ground-state electron-capture $Q$-value for the $^{72}$As to $^{72}$Ge decay by measuring their atomic mass difference utilizing the double Penning trap mass spectrometer, JYFLTRAP. The $Q$-value was measured to be 4343.596(75)~keV, which is more than a 50-fold improvement in precision compared to the value in the most recent Atomic Mass Evaluation 2020. Furthermore, the new $Q$-value was found to be 12.4(40)~keV (3.1 $\sigma$) lower. With the significant reduction of the uncertainty of the ground-state to ground-state $Q$-value value combined with the level scheme of $^{72}$Ge from $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy, we confirm that th…
Beta-decay studies for applied and basic nuclear physics
2020
In this review we will present the results of recent beta-decay studies using the total absorption technique that cover topics of interest for applications, nuclear structure and astrophysics. The decays studied were selected primarily because they have a large impact on the prediction of a) the decay heat in reactors, important for the safety of present and future reactors and b) the reactor electron antineutrino spectrum, of interest for particle/nuclear physics and reactor monitoring. For these studies the total absorption technique was chosen, since it is the only method that allows one to obtain beta decay probabilities free from a systematic error called the Pandemonium effect. The me…
The NUMEN project @ LNS: Status and perspectives
2017
The NUMEN project aims at accessing experimentally driven information on Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME) involved in the half-life of the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ), by high-accuracy measurements of Heavy Ion (HI) induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reaction cross sections. In particular, the (18O,18Ne) and (20Ne,20O) reactions are used as tools for β+β+ and β−β− decays, respectively. In the experiments, performed at INFN - Laboratory Nazionali del Sud (LNS) in Catania, the beams are accelerated by the Superconducting Cyclotron (CS) and the reaction ejectiles are detected the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer. The measured cross sections are challengingly low (a few nb), being the tota…