Abstract
The paper treats recent experiments measuring the endpoint region of tritium β-decay with high resolution, sensitivity and background rejection, using an electrostatic filter with adiabatic magnetic collimation. The spectra are analysed with respect to the neutrino mass. These results form the primary source for the present upper limit of the neutrino mass m ν < 2 eV quoted by the particle data group. Particular attention is paid to the decisive influence which atomic and molecular physics effects take on the results. A brief outlook on future experiments is given.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Pauli, W.: In: A letter to a local meeting on radioactivity at Tübingen, Germany (1930); Rapports du Septième Conseil de Physique Solvay, Brussels, 1933 (Paris: Gauthier-Villars (1934)
Fermi, E.: Z. Physik 88, 11 (1934)
Kraus, Ch., Bornschein, B., Bornschein, L., Bonn, J., Flatt, B., Kovalik, A., Ostrick, B., Otten, E.W., Schall, J.P., Thümmler, Th., Weinheimer, Ch.: Eur. Phys. J. C 40, 447 (2005)
Lobashev, V.M., et al.: Phys. Lett. B 460, 227 (1999)
Yao, W.M., et al., Particle Data Group: J. Phys. G 33, 1 (2006) (URL: http://pdg.lbl.gov)
Otten, E.W., Weinheimer, Ch.: Rep. Prog. Phys. 71, 086201 (2008)
Ljubimov, V.A., Novikov, E.G., Nozik, V.Z., Tretyakov, E.F., Kosik: Phys. Lett. B 94, 266 (1980)
Spergel, D.N., et al., For the W-MAP- Collaboration: Astrophys. J. (Suppl.) 148, 175 (2003)
Wetterich, Ch., Pettorino,V.: arXiv:0905.0715 (2009)
Nagy, Sz., Fritioff, T., Björkhage, M., Bergström, I., Schuch, R.: Europhys. Lett. 74, 404 (2006)
Blaum, K., Block, M.: Hyperfine Interact. 194, 65 (2009)
Angrick, J., for the KATRIN-Collaboration: KATRIN Design Report Wissenschaftliche Bericht Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe 7090 http://www-ik.fzk.de/katrin (2004)
Kolos, W., Jeziorski, B., Szalewitch, K., Monkhorst, H.J.: Phys. Rev. A 31 551 (1985)
Saenz, A., Jonsell, S., Froelich, P.: Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 242 (2000)
Doss, N., Tennyson, J., Saenz, A., Jonsell, S.: Phys. Rev. C 73, 025502 (2006)
Kolos, W., Jeziorski, B., Rychlewski, J., Szalewicz, K., Fackler, O.: Phys. Rev. A 37 2297 (1988)
Amsler, C., et al., Particle Data Group: Phys. Lett. B 767, 1 (2008)
Weinheimer, C., Degen, B., Bleile, A., Bonn, J., Bornschein, L., Kazachenko, O., Kovalik, A., Otten, E.W.: Phys. Lett. B 460, 219 (1999)
Otten, E.W.: XIV.KATRIN Collaboration Meeting, Karlsruhe, Germany (2008), unpublished
Boris, S., et al.: Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 2019 (1987)
Lippmaa, E., Pikver, R., Suurmaa, E., Past, J., Puskar, J., Koppel, I., Tammik, A.: Phys. Rev. Lett. 54, 285 (1985)
Weinheimer, C., et al.: Phys. Lett B 300, 210 (1993)
Fleischmann, L., Bonn, J., Degen, B., Przyrembel, M., Otten, E.W., Weinheimer, C., Leiderer, P.J.: Low Temp. Phys. 119, 615 (2000)
Fleischmann, L., Bonn, J., Bornschein, B., Leiderer, P., Przyrembel, M., Weinheimer, C., Saenz, A.: Euro. Phys. J. B16, 521 (2000)
Otten, E.W., Bonn, J., Weinheimer, C.: Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 251, 173 (2006)
Kruit, P., Read, F.: J. Phys. E 16, 313 (1983)
Lobashev, V.M., Spivak, P.E.: Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 240, 305 (1985)
Picard, A., et al.: Nucl. Instrum. Methods B 63, 345 (1992)
Belesev, A.I., et al.: Phys. Lett. B 350, 263 (1995)
Picard, A., et al.: Z. Phys. A 342, 71 (1992)
Lobashev, V.M., et al.: Phys. Lett. B 460, 227 (1999)
Lobashev, V.M.: Proc. 17. Int. conf. on nuclear physics in astrophysics (Debrecen, Hungary, 2002). Nucl. Phys. A 719, 153 (2003)
Aseev, N., et al.: Euro. Phys. J. D 10, 39 (2000)
Bornschein, B., Bonn, J., Bornschein, L., Otten, E.W., Weinheimer, C.: J. Low Temp. Phys. 131, 69 (2003)
Robertson, R., Bowles, T., Stephenson, G., Wark, D., Wilkerson, J.: Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 957 (1991)
Galeazzi, M., et al.: Phys. Rev. C 63, 014302 (2001)
Sisti, M., et al.: Nucl. Instrum. Methods A 520, 125 (2004)
Gatti, F., et al.: A detailed proposal. http://mare.dfm.uninsubria.it/frontend/exec.php
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Otten, E. Searching the absolute neutrino mass in tritium β-decay—interplay between nuclear, atomic and molecular physics. Hyperfine Interact 196, 3–23 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-009-0150-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-009-0150-2