First Direct Double-Beta Decay Q-value Measurement of 82Se in Support of Understanding the Nature of the Neutrino

TL;DR

This paper reports a highly precise measurement of the double-beta decay Q-value of 82Se and provides preliminary nuclear matrix element calculations, aiding future neutrino research and experiment design.

Contribution

It presents the first direct and highly precise measurement of 82Se's double-beta decay Q-value and offers preliminary theoretical calculations of the nuclear matrix element.

Findings

Q-value of 82Se double-beta decay measured as 2997.9(3) keV

Provides preliminary calculations of the neutrinoless double-beta decay nuclear matrix element

Results improve the accuracy for designing future experiments

Abstract

In anticipation of results from current and future double-beta decay studies, we report a measurement resulting in a 82Se double-beta decay Q-value of 2997.9(3) keV, an order of magnitude more precise than the currently accepted value. We also present preliminary results of a calculation of the 82Se neutrinoless double-beta decay nuclear matrix element that corrects in part for the small size of the shell model single-particle space. The results of this work are important for designing next generation double-beta decay experiments and for the theoretical interpretations of their observations.