A multi-isotope \(0\nu2\beta\) bolometric experiment

Abstract

There are valuable arguments to perform neutrinoless double beta (\(0\nu2\beta\)) decay experiments with several nuclei: the uncertainty of nuclear-matrix-element calculations; the possibility to test these calculations by using the ratio of the measured lifetimes; the unpredictability of possible breakthroughs in the detection technique; the difficulty to foresee background in \(0\nu2\beta\) decay searches; the limited amount of isotopically enriched materials. We propose therefore approaches to estimate the Majorana neutrino mass by combining experimental data collected with different \(0\nu2\beta\) decay candidates. In particular, we apply our methods to a next-generation experiment based on scintillating and Cherenkov-radiation bolometers. Current results indicate that this technology can effectively study up to four different isotopes simultaneously (\(^{82}\)Se, \(^{100}\)Mo, \(^{116}\)Cd and \(^{130}\)Te), embedded in detectors which share the same concepts and environment. We show that the combined information on the Majorana neutrino mass extracted from a multi-candidate bolometric experiment is competitive with that achievable with a single isotope, once that the cryogenic experimental volume is fixed. The remarkable conceptual and technical advantages of a multi-isotope investigation are discussed. This approach can be naturally applied to the proposed CUPID project, follow-up of the CUORE experiment that is currently taking data in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory.