Observation of two-neutrino double-beta decay in Xe136 with the EXO-200 detector

N. Ackerman, B. Aharmim, M. Auger, D. J. Auty, P. S. Barbeau, K. Barry, L. Bartoszek, E. Beauchamp, V. Belov, C. Benitez-Medina, M. Breidenbach, A. Burenkov, B. Cleveland, R. Conley, E. Conti, J. Cook, S. Cook, A. Coppens, I. Counts, W. CraddockT. Daniels, M. V. Danilov, C. G. Davis, J. Davis, R. Devoe, Z. Djurcic, A. Dobi, A. G. Dolgolenko, M. J. Dolinski, K. Donato, M. Dunford, W. Fairbank, J. Farine, P. Fierlinger, D. Franco, D. Freytag, G. Giroux, R. Gornea, K. Graham, G. Gratta, M. P. Green, C. Hägemann, C. Hall, K. Hall, G. Haller, C. Hargrove, R. Herbst, S. Herrin, J. Hodgson, M. Hughes, A. Johnson, A. Karelin, L. J. Kaufman, T. Koffas, A. Kuchenkov, A. Kumar, K. S. Kumar, D. S. Leonard, F. Leonard, F. Leport, D. MacKay, R. MacLellan, M. Marino, Y. Martin, B. Mong, M. Montero Díez, P. Morgan, A. R. Müller, R. Neilson, R. Nelson, A. Odian, K. O'Sullivan, C. Ouellet, A. Piepke, A. Pocar, C. Y. Prescott, K. Pushkin, A. Rivas, E. Rollin, P. C. Rowson, J. J. Russell, A. Sabourov, D. Sinclair, K. Skarpaas, S. Slutsky, V. Stekhanov, V. Strickland, M. Swift, D. Tosi, K. Twelker, P. Vogel, J. L. Vuilleumier, J. M. Vuilleumier, A. Waite, S. Waldman, T. Walton, K. Wamba, M. Weber, U. Wichoski, J. Wodin, J. D. Wright, L. Yang, Y. R. Yen, O. Ya Zeldovich

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

163 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report the observation of two-neutrino double-beta decay in Xe136 with T1/2=2.11±0.04(stat)±0.21(syst)×1021yr. This second-order process, predicted by the standard model, has been observed for several nuclei but not for Xe136. The observed decay rate provides new input to matrix element calculations and to the search for the more interesting neutrinoless double-beta decay, the most sensitive probe for the existence of Majorana particles and the measurement of the neutrino mass scale.

Original languageEnglish
Article number212501
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume107
Issue number21
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 17 2011

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Observation of two-neutrino double-beta decay in Xe136 with the EXO-200 detector'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this