Recent Advances in Double Beta Decay Investigations: In Honor of Prof. Sabin Stoica at His 70th Anniversary

A special issue of Symmetry (ISSN 2073-8994). This special issue belongs to the section "Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 2761

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Department of Physics, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, USA
Interests: nuclear structure; double beta decay; computational physics
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RCNP, Osaka University, 1-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Interests: nuclear structure; double beta decay; computational physics
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International Center for Advanced Training and Research in Physics, 077125 Magurele, Romania
Interests: nuclear structure; double beta decay; computational physics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Double-beta decay is one of the current research topics of great interest due its potential to unravel key unknown information on a broad range of issues including violation of conservation laws, fundamental properties of neutrinos, various lepton number violating mechanisms that could contribute to neutrinoless double-beta decay. 

The experimental efforts aim at the deployment of large-scale experiments with large masses of active isotopes that increase the sensitivity, reduce the background contributions and improve the technical performance of the measurements.  The so-called "tonne-phase" searches will attain sensitivities for neutrinoless double beta decay half-lives of the order of 1027-28 years, which would reach the inverted mass hierarchy region for the effective Majorana mass parameter. The discovery of neutrinoless double beta decay, or measurement of any improved limit of its half-life, can be used to constrain the absolute neutrino mass scale and various possible mechanisms that can contribute to this decay mode. Additionally, from an accurate analysis of the emitted electron spectra, signatures of Lorentz invariance violations are searched as well. 

On the theoretical side, there is a continuous effort to provide precise calculations to support the data analysis and interpretation.  The main challenge remains the computation of the nuclear matrix elements whose values still differ too much among different methods, thus affecting the decay rate predictions and the constraint of different lepton violation mechanisms. New methods and techniques are recently developed, from phenomenological approaches to ab initio methods. In addition, experimental studies of single beta decays, muon captures, and charge exchange reactions are used to improve theoretical calculations for the double-beta decay nuclear matrix elements. Additionally, precise calculations of the electron spectra and their angular correlations are used to search for new physics beyond the Standard Model.

In this research topic volume we aim to gather relevant results in the double-beta decay field. Submissions can be recent research and theoretical or experimental reviews.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Universe [ISSN 2218-1997, SCIE Indexed, IF 2.813].

Prof. Dr. Mihai Horoi
Prof. Dr. Hiro Ejiri
Dr. Andrei Neacsu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • neutrino physics
  • double beta decays
  • nuclear structure
  • weak interaction
  • beta decays

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 1343 KiB  
Article
Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay Investigations of 82Se Using Three Shell Model Hamiltonians
by Andrei Neacsu and Mihai Horoi
Symmetry 2024, 16(8), 974; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym16080974 - 31 Jul 2024
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Abstract
Neutrinoless double-beta decay is considered one of the most promising processes that would help clarify some of the symmetry-breaking problems in our understanding of the observable universe. Recent studies of neutrinoless double-beta decay matrix elements have employed statistical approaches based on modified shell [...] Read more.
Neutrinoless double-beta decay is considered one of the most promising processes that would help clarify some of the symmetry-breaking problems in our understanding of the observable universe. Recent studies of neutrinoless double-beta decay matrix elements have employed statistical approaches based on modified shell model effective Hamiltonians for 48Ca (Phys. Rev. C 106, 054302 (2022)) and 136Xe (Phys. Rev. C 107, 045501 (2023)). The analyses rely on inducing perturbations in the starting effective Hamiltonians to observe the behavior of a wide range of observables, besides the 0νββ) NME, that are compared with experimental data. Following a Bayesian model averaging approach, the range of probable values for the neutrinoless double-beta decay matrix elements is presented. In this paper, we present a similar study for 82Se, which is described in the same model space as 76Ge that is under experimental observation. Due to its faster calculation time compared to 76Ge, 82Se can be used as an appropriate substitute in our complex statistical study. Using the calculations performed for the statistical analysis of the neutrinoless double-beta decay matrix elements, we also search for the correlations between the observables that we can compare to experimental data. Full article
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Review

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15 pages, 627 KiB  
Review
Theoretical Advances in Beta and Double-Beta Decay
by Vasile-Alin Sevestrean and Sabin Stoica
Symmetry 2024, 16(4), 390; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym16040390 - 26 Mar 2024
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Abstract
Weak interaction processes continue to be hot topics in fundamental physics research. In this paper, we briefly review some recent advances in the theoretical study of beta and double-beta decays that include both the nuclear and atomic part of these processes. On the [...] Read more.
Weak interaction processes continue to be hot topics in fundamental physics research. In this paper, we briefly review some recent advances in the theoretical study of beta and double-beta decays that include both the nuclear and atomic part of these processes. On the nuclear side, we present a statistical approach for the computation of the nuclear matrix elements (NME) for neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ). A range of NME values, the most probable value for NME, and the associated theoretical uncertainty are given. Correlations with other related observables are shown as well. On the atomic side, we first briefly review the methods used to obtain the electrons’ wave functions. Further, we use them for the computation of some relevant kinematic quantities such as Fermi functions, electron spectra, and angular correlation between the emitted electrons. Then, we present applications of these calculations to the experimental data analysis related to the search of the Lorentz invariance violation in two-neutrino double-beta (2νββ) decay and description of the decay rates and decay rate ratios for allowed and unique forbidden electron capture (EC) processes. Full article
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