Astroparticle Physics Seminar

Juliana Stachurska - Towards the determination of the absolute neutrino mass scale with Project 8

Europe/Berlin
SR5 (Villa) (Zeuthen)

SR5 (Villa)

Zeuthen

Description

Abstract

Project 8 is a next-generation direct neutrino mass experiment using tritium beta decay. To cover the entire effective electron neutrino mass region allowed by the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy, Project 8 targets a sensitivity of 40 meV. This goal requires the development of new technology and methods. Among these are the development of Cyclotron Radiation Emission Spectroscopy (CRES), a non-destructive method of measuring the differential energy spectrum of the decay electrons. Moving from a molecular tritium source to an atomic tritium source will overcome the systematic limitations associated with molecular final states. I will review the phased approach of Project 8, highlight the milestones achieved in phases I & II, and focus on the next key R&D steps needed to demonstrate CRES on a large volume of atomic tritium gas.