SuperNEMO PROJECT COORDINATION
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Technical Summary
SuperNEMO is a next generation experiment to search for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay (NDBD) based on the successful NEMO-3 experiment. NDBD is the only way to access the fundamental nature of the neutrino. It is the aim of SuperNEMO to increase the sensitivity, compared with current experiments, to the absolute Majorana neutrino mass by an order of magnitude. This is the region of neutrino mass suggested by recent neutrino oscillation experiments. It will house 100 kg of isotopes, ten times more than NEMO 3, thus reaching a neutrino mass sensitivity of about 50 meV. The SuperNEMO detector will comprise several identical modules, each containing a source foil surrounded by a tracker with drift cells and a calorimeter. The SuperNEMO approach aims to measure the complete topological signature of the process (two electrons emitted from the same vertex with the summed energy of the DBD transition). This will allow for the extremely efficient background suppression needed for the discovery of NDBD. SuperNEMO will also be in the unique position to identify and study the specific mechanism responsible for NDBD (e.g. right-handed current admixture in weak interaction versus supersymmetry etc). SuperNEMO is also the only experiment of this type that can use many isotopes, therefore, should evidence be found by an alternative technique, it will provide the necessary cross-check to confirm the observations.
Notes:
1. These projects are not awards in themselves. They are a mechanism to capture outputs common to the project (usually, but not exclusively, publications).
2. Each project has a number of contributing research teams, based at multiple institutions. The research teams are funded through the institutes’ consolidated grants.
3. It is not possible to quantify the proportion of effort that each research team contributes to the project.
Notes:
1. These projects are not awards in themselves. They are a mechanism to capture outputs common to the project (usually, but not exclusively, publications).
2. Each project has a number of contributing research teams, based at multiple institutions. The research teams are funded through the institutes’ consolidated grants.
3. It is not possible to quantify the proportion of effort that each research team contributes to the project.
People |
ORCID iD |
| David Simon Waters (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Argyriades J
(2010)
Measurement of the two neutrino double beta decay half-life of Zr-96 with the NEMO-3 detector
in Nuclear Physics A
Argyriades J
(2011)
Spectral modeling of scintillator for the NEMO-3 and SuperNEMO detectors
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Argyriades J
(2010)
Results of the BiPo-1 prototype for radiopurity measurements for the SuperNEMO double beta decay source foils
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Arnold R
(2015)
Results of the search for neutrinoless double-
decay in
with the NEMO-3 experiment
in Physical Review D
Arnold R
(2011)
Measurement of the ßß decay half-life of 130Te with the NEMO-3 detector.
in Physical review letters
Arnold R
(2017)
Search for Neutrinoless Quadruple-ß Decay of ^{150}Nd with the NEMO-3 Detector.
in Physical review letters
Arnold R
(2014)
Search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of
with the NEMO-3 detector
in Physical Review D
Arnold R
(2010)
Probing new physics models of neutrinoless double beta decay with SuperNEMO
in The European Physical Journal C
Barabash A
(2017)
The BiPo-3 detector for the measurement of ultra low natural radioactivities of thin materials
in Journal of Instrumentation
| Description | In the UK, we have built an ultra-low radioactivity tracking detector for SuperNEMO, obtaining world-leading low levels of radon and other impurities. This is a step toward proving the viability of this detection technique for the next generation of neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments. |
| Exploitation Route | Many of the techniques developed in this project will have applications in low-background physics, such as the search for neutrinoless double-beta decay and dark matter. There may be applications to other fields of physics as well as beyond. |
| Sectors | Education |
| Description | The progress of the SuperNEMO project featured in an article appearing in The Guardian newspaper in October 2015, following the successful transport of the first tracker module from the UK to France. The calorimeter optical module technology developed for SuperNEMO has subsequently been used to develop instrumentation for proton beam therapy, leading to successful grant applications in this area of medical research. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2015 |
| Sector | Education,Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |