Project 8: Using Radio-Frequency Techniques to Measure Neutrino Mass

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel radio-frequency spectroscopy method to measure neutrino mass by detecting cyclotron radiation from electrons, potentially enabling more precise and non-destructive energy measurements.

Contribution

It introduces a new electron energy spectroscopy technique based on detecting cyclotron radiation, improving neutrino mass measurement accuracy.

Findings

Potential for high-resolution neutrino mass measurements

Non-destructive frequency-based electron energy detection

Feasibility of applying RF techniques to beta decay analysis

Abstract

The shape of the beta decay energy distribution is sensitive to the mass of the electron neutrino. Attempts to measure the endpoint shape of tritium decay have so far seen no distortion from the zero-mass form. Here we show that a new type of electron energy spectroscopy could improve future measurements of this spectrum and therefore of the neutrino mass. We propose to detect the coherent cyclotron radiation emitted by an energetic electron in a magnetic field. For mildly relativistic electrons, like those in tritium decay, the relativistic shift of the cyclotron frequency allows us to extract the electron energy from the emitted radiation. As the technique inherently involves the measurement of a frequency in a non-destructive manner, it can, in principle, achieve a high degree of resolution and accuracy.