Observation of Two-Neutrino Double-Beta Decay in Xe-136 with EXO-200
N. Ackerman, B. Aharmim, M. Auger, D. J. Auty, P. S. Barbeau, K., Barry, L. Bartoszek, E. Beauchamp, V. Belov, C. Benitez-Medina, M., Breidenbach, A. Burenkov, B. Cleveland, R. Conley, E. Conti, J. Cook, S., Cook, A. Coppens, I. Counts, W. Craddock, T. Daniels, M. V. Danilov
TL;DR
This paper reports the first observation of two-neutrino double-beta decay in Xe-136, measuring its half-life and providing important data for neutrino physics and the search for Majorana particles.
Contribution
First experimental observation of two-neutrino double-beta decay in Xe-136 with precise half-life measurement, informing theoretical models and future neutrino research.
Findings
Measured half-life T_1/2 = 2.11 +- 0.04 (stat.) +- 0.21 (sys.) x 10^21 years
Confirmed the occurrence of two-neutrino double-beta decay in Xe-136
Provided data to refine nuclear matrix element calculations
Abstract
We report the observation of two-neutrino double-beta decay in Xe-136 with T_1/2 = 2.11 +- 0.04 (stat.) +- 0.21 (sys.) x 10^21 yr. This second order process, predicted by the Standard Model, has been observed for several nuclei but not for Xe-136. The observed decay rate provides new input to matrix element calculations and to the search for the more interesting neutrino-less double-beta decay, the most sensitive probe for the existence of Majorana particles and the measurement of the neutrino mass scale.
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.