Initial Results from the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Elliott, S R, Abgrall, N, Arnquist, I J, Avignone, F T, Barabash, A S, Bertrand, F E, Bradley, A W, Brudanin, V, Busch, M, Buuck, M, Caldwell, T S, Y-D, Chan, Christofferson, C D, P -H Chu, Cuesta, C, Detwiler, J A, Dunagan, C, Efremenko, Yu, Ejiri, H, Fullmer, A, Galindo-Uribarri, A, Gilliss, T, Giovanetti, G K, Green, M P, Gruszko, J, Guinn, I S, Guiseppe, V E, Henning, R, Hoppe, E W, Howe, M A, Jasinski, B R, Keeter, K J, Kidd, M F, Konovalov, S I, Kouzes, R T, Leon, J, Lopez, A M, MacMullin, J, Martin, R D, Massarczyk, R, Meijer, S J, Mertens, S, Orrell, J L, O'Shaughnessy, C, Poon, A W P, Radford, D C, Rager, J, Rielage, K, Robertson, R G H, Romero-Romero, E, Shanks, B, Shirchenko, M, Suriano, A M, Tedeschi, D, Trimble, J E, Varner, R L, Vasilyev, S, Vetter, K, Vorren, K, White, B R, Wilkerson, J F, Wiseman, C, W Xu, Yakushev, E, C -H Yu, Yumatov, V, Zhitnikov, I
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 04.10.2016
• Subjects: Assembling; Beta decay; Collaboration; Commissioning; Detectors; Leptons; Modules; Neutrinos; Physics; Physics - High Energy Physics - Experiment; Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors; Physics - Nuclear Experiment
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1610.01210

Neutrinoless double-beta decay searches seek to determine the nature of neutrinos, the existence of a lepton violating process, and the effective Majorana neutrino mass. The {\sc Majorana} Collaboration is assembling an array of high purity Ge detectors to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in \(^{76}\)Ge. The {\sc Majorana Demonstrator} is composed of 44.8~kg (29.7 kg enriched in \(^{76}\)Ge) of Ge detectors in total, split between two modules contained in a low background shield at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. The initial goals of the {\sc Demonstrator} are to establish the required background and scalability of a Ge-based, next-generation, tonne-scale experiment. Following a commissioning run that began in 2015, the first detector module started physics data production in early 2016. We will discuss initial results of the Module 1 commissioning and first physics run, as well as the status and potential physics reach of the full {\sc Majorana Demonstrator} experiment. The collaboration plans to complete the assembly of the second detector module by mid-2016 to begin full data production with the entire array.