Searching for the 0nubetabeta Decay of 130Te with the Ton-Scale CUORE Bolometer Array
Abstract
CUORE--the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events--is an experiment searching for the neutrinoless double-beta (0nubetabeta) decay of 130Te, based at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. The detector consists of 988 5 x 5 x 5 cm 3 TeO2 crystals operated as bolometers at temperatures of 10 mK inside the world's largest and most powerful dilution refrigerator. CUORE began physics data collection in the spring of 2017, and has recently released its first limit on the 0nubetabeta decay half-life of 130Te from 24 kg • y isotope exposure ( 2 months live time). This result--T0nu1/2 > 1.5 • 10 25 y (Bayesian) and T0nu1/2 > 2.3 • 1025 y (Frequentist) at 90% C.L.--is the most stringent to date and, together with two alternative analyses necessary to calculate it, forms the centerpiece of this thesis. In the future, with five years of live time, CUORE is projected to reach a median sensitivity of 9 • 10 25 y on this half-life. Besides the main physics conclusions, in this work I present an analysis modeling the spectral line shape of the bolometer, which is used for constructing the region of interest fit PDF. Additionally, I discuss the major CUORE hardware projects to which I have contributed in a significant way. Specifically, these are our world-leading cryostat, a cryogenic feedback temperature control system, a radon-free detector installation environment, and a room temperature detector calibration system.
- Publication:
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Ph.D. Thesis
- Pub Date:
- 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018PhDT........41D
- Keywords:
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- Nuclear physics and radiation;High energy physics;Low temperature physics