Search for Double Beta Decay Transitions of 116Cd into The Excited States of 116Sn in COBRA Experiment

AbstraktAbstract

Proposed topic of the Master’s thesis is devoted to neutrino physics in the context of neutrinoless double beta (0υββ) decay experiment COBRA [1]. Experimental observation of 0υββ decay would not only prove that total lepton number is not conserved in the process, and that neutrinos are Majorana particles (i.e. neutrino and antineutrino are the same particle), but it would also provide direct measurement of the effective neutrino mass [2]. The aim of the COBRA (Cadmium Zinc Telluride 0-Neutrino Double-Beta Research Apparatus) experiment is to measure half-life of the 0υββ decay at the Gran Sasso National underground Laboratory (Italy) using CdZnTe semiconductor detectors [3]. CdZnTe detector contains nine double beta (ββ) decaying isotopes, therefore the detector acts as its own source. The ββ decay processes can also occur through the excited states of the daughter nucleus [4]. This excited daughter nucleus promptly deexcites to the ground state emitting characteristic gamma signatures. Within proposed Master’s thesis, student would study different ββ transitions of 116Cd to the excited states of 116Sn.

Proposed topic of the Master’s thesis is devoted to neutrino physics in the context of neutrinoless double beta (0υββ) decay experiment COBRA [1]. Experimental observation of 0υββ decay would not only prove that total lepton number is not conserved in the process, and that neutrinos are Majorana particles (i.e. neutrino and antineutrino are the same particle), but it would also provide direct measurement of the effective neutrino mass [2]. The aim of the COBRA (Cadmium Zinc Telluride 0-Neutrino Double-Beta Research Apparatus) experiment is to measure half-life of the 0υββ decay at the Gran Sasso National underground Laboratory (Italy) using CdZnTe semiconductor detectors [3]. CdZnTe detector contains nine double beta (ββ) decaying isotopes, therefore the detector acts as its own source. The ββ decay processes can also occur through the excited states of the daughter nucleus [4]. This excited daughter nucleus promptly deexcites to the ground state emitting characteristic gamma signatures. Within proposed Master’s thesis, student would study different ββ transitions of 116Cd to the excited states of 116Sn.