Consistency test of neutrinoless double beta decay with one isotope

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to verify neutrinoless double beta decay signals using a single isotope by comparing transitions to different nuclear states, helping distinguish genuine signals from background noise.

Contribution

It introduces a novel consistency test leveraging transitions to both ground and excited states to confirm neutrinoless double beta decay detection with one isotope.

Findings

The method can differentiate between true decay signals and background lines.

It enables testing for Majorana neutrino masses within a specific range.

The approach enhances sensitivity to lower effective Majorana masses.

Abstract

We discuss a consistency test which makes it possible to discriminate unknown nuclear background lines from neutrinoless double beta decay with only one isotope. By considering both the transition to the ground state and to the first excited $0^+$ state, a sufficiently large detector can reveal if neutrinoless double beta decay or some other nuclear physics process is at work. Such a detector could therefore simultaneously provide a consistency test for a certain range of Majorana masses and be sensitive to lower values of the effective Majorana mass.