ACCESS · Array of Cryogenic Calorimeters to Evaluate Spectral Shapes
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2022-04-02 → 2025-04-01
- EU contribution
- €255,768
- Participants
- 2
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Array of Cryogenic Calorimeters to Evaluate Spectral Shapes
The search for neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) is central to understanding fundamental questions in particle physics, such as the nature of neutrinos and the origin of matter-antimatter asymmetry. Observing 0νββ would confirm that neutrinos are Majorana particles and provide insights into their absolute mass. However, theoretical uncertainties in nuclear matrix elements hinder the precise interpretation and optimal selection of isotopes for experiments. In this framework, the ACCESS (Array of Cryogenic Calorimeters to Evaluate Spectral Shapes) project aims to develop a novel technique for precision measurements of rare and forbidden β-decays, which can serve as an essential benchmark for nuclear physics calculations and represent a significant background in astroparticle physics experiments. ACCESS aims to operate cryogenic calorimeters based on natural and doped crystals containing β-emitting radionuclides. In this way, natural (e.g. Cd-113 and In-115) and synthetic isotopes (e.g. Tc-99) will be simultaneously measured with a common experimental technique, providing valuable data for data-driven improvements of nuclear models.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
ACCESS aims to establish a new technique to perform precision measurements of forbidden beta-decays, whose spectral shape is a crucial benchmark for Nuclear Physics calculations and plays a pivotal role in Astroparticle Physics experiments. When fundamental conservation laws strongly suppress a beta decay, it features a high transferred momentum, as in the case of neutrinoless double-beta decay (NLDBD). Relying on this similarity, ACCESS will provide groundbreaking insights to evaluate Nuclear Matrix Elements for NLDBD. ACCESS will operate a pilot array of four tellurium dioxide crystals as cryogenic calorimeters. Three of them will be doped with different beta emitters, while the last natural one will be used for effective background subtraction. My experience with cryogenic calorimeters based on semiconductor sensors (i.e. NTD) will be a solid basement for the project, but an essential piece of the puzzle is still missing. ACCESS requires high statistical measurements in an ultra-clean underground cryostat, available for limited time slots. A fast detector is mandatory to collect the required number of signals, keeping the background low, and avoiding the pileup due to the high counting rate. To fulfill this requirement, I will complete my training during the first two years of the action at Queen’s University. Here I will learn to build and operate bolometers based on superconductive sensors (i.e. TES), among the faster sensors used in Astroparticle Physics. I will transfer my NTD-oriented expertise to the local group, and together we will integrate these two sensors for a novel application. In the last year, I will move to GSSI, a research center of excellence recently established in Italy. Here I will perform the final measurements at LNGS (Gran Sasso National Laboratory), a world-leading underground research infrastructure of INFN. My new skills and research network will enrich the local astroparticle group, extending its research field also to Nuclear Physics.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union