# TeVPA 2018

Aug 27 – 31, 2018
LVH, Luisenstraße 58, 10117 Berlin
Europe/Berlin timezone

## The search for neutrinoless double beta decay with a half-life beyond 10$^{26}$ yr with the GERDA experiment

Aug 30, 2018, 3:15 PM
15m
-3- Rudolf Virchow

### -3- Rudolf Virchow

Talk Particle Physics

### Speaker

Dr Roman Hiller (UZH)

### Description

The GERDA experiment searches for neutrinoless double beta decay of $^{76}$Ge. A discovery of this hypothetical decay would imply the Majorana nature of neutrinos and violation of lepton number conservation. To find this decay, with a half-life beyond 10$^{25}$ yr, gamma-ray spectrometers made from enriched $^{76}$Ge are operated directly immersed in liquid argon. Instrumenting the argon-filled cryostat with photosensors, scintillation light enables vetoing external background to push the background level below 10$^{-3}$ cts/(keV kg yr). Combined with the high energy resolution of germanium detectors, the sensitivity of GERDA will not be limited by background beyond an exposure of 100 kg yr. With a major data release this year, the exposure has now reached almost 60 kg yr, making GERDA the first experiment in the field to reach a half-life sensitivity of 10$^{26}$ yr. We will present the latest results of GERDA in the search for neutrinoless double beta decay.

 Slides