Neutrinoless double beta decay of deformed nuclei within QRPA with realistic interaction

TL;DR

This paper develops a detailed microscopic approach using QRPA with realistic interactions to calculate nuclear matrix elements for neutrinoless double beta decay in deformed nuclei, providing insights into neutrino mass measurements.

Contribution

It introduces a state-of-the-art QRPA method with realistic residual interactions accounting for nuclear deformation in decay calculations.

Findings

Neutrinoless double beta decay of $^{150}$Nd is a promising probe of Majorana neutrino mass.

The method accounts for short-range correlations and $g_A$ quenching effects.

Results support the potential of upcoming experiments to measure neutrino properties.

Abstract

In this paper a microscopic state-of-the-art approach to calculation of the nuclear matrix element $M^{0\nu}$ for neutrinoless double beta decay with an account for nuclear deformation is presented in length and applied for $^{76}$Ge, $^{150}$Nd and $^{160}$Gd. The proton-neutron quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA) with a realistic residual interaction [the Brueckner $G$ matrix derived from the charge-depending Bonn (Bonn-CD) nucleon-nucleon potential] is used as the underlying nuclear structure model. The effects of the short range correlations and the quenching of the axial vector coupling constant $g_A$ are analyzed. The results show that neutrinoless double beta decay of $^{150}$Nd, to be measured soon by the SNO+ collaboration, provides one of the best probes of the Majorana neutrino mass. This confirms our preliminary conclusion in Ref. {Fang10}.