Description:

Neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νDBD) is a process whose discovery would reshape the Standard Model picture of the neutrino. Beyond the 0νDBD, many other exotic decays can be detected starting from the same emitting isotopes. 

The development of cryogenic calorimeters to search for 0νDBD has produced in recent years increasingly promising results. The CUORE experiment (Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events) successfully demonstrated the possibility to operate a large array of cryogenic detectors in stable conditions maintaining an excellent energy resolution. 

In order to achieve a nearly background-free condition, scintillating crystals for 0νDBD have been developed. Thanks to the light-assisted particle discrimination, this technology demonstrated the complete rejection of the dominant alpha-background affecting CUORE.

CUPID (CUORE Upgrade with Particle IDentification) is a next-generation experiment aiming to exploit Mo-100 enriched scintillating lithium molybdate crystals, operating as cryogenic calorimeters. Thanks to high Q-value of Mo-100 and the alpha-discrimination, CUPID will reach unprecedented sensitivities to this process. So far, the technology has been successfully validated by two pilot experiments: CUPID-0 and CUPID-Mo. 

This seminar will give an overview of the search for 0νDBD with cryogenic detectors and the latest physics results from CUPID-0 and CUPID-Mo. 

Emanuela Celi, PhD Student, Gran Sasso Science Institute

Host: Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano