Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay and Neutrino Masses

TL;DR

This paper explores the connection between neutrinoless double beta decay and neutrino masses, emphasizing the theoretical relationship and proposing an experimental method to distinguish decay signals from background noise within a single isotope experiment.

Contribution

It provides a quantitative analysis of the link between neutrinoless double beta decay and Majorana neutrino masses and introduces a novel experimental cross check method.

Findings

Quantitative relation between decay and neutrino masses

Proposed method to distinguish decay from background

Insights into lepton number violation

Abstract

Neutrinoless double beta decay is a promising test for lepton number violating physics beyond the standard model of particle physics. There is a deep connection between this decay and the phenomenon of neutrino masses. In particular, we will discuss the relation between neutrinoless double beta decay and Majorana neutrino masses provided by the so-called Schechter--Valle theorem in a quantitative way. Furthermore, we will present an experimental cross check to discriminate neutrinoless double beta decay from unknown nuclear background using only one isotope, i.e., within one experiment.