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Concept
Neutrinoless double beta decay
Summary
The neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) is a commonly proposed and experimentally pursued theoretical radioactive decay process that would prove a Majorana nature of the neutrino particle. To this day, it has not been found.
The discovery of the neutrinoless double beta decay could shed light on the absolute neutrino masses and on their mass hierarchy (Neutrino mass). It would mean the first ever signal of the violation of total lepton number conservation. A Majorana nature of neutrinos would confirm that the neutrino is its own antiparticle.
To search for neutrinoless double beta decay, there are currently a number of experiments underway, with several future experiments for increased sensitivity proposed as well.
In 1939, Wendell H. Furry proposed the idea of the Majorana nature of the neutrino, which was associated with beta decays. Furry stated the transition probability to even be higher for the neutrinoless double beta decay. It was the first idea proposed to search for the violation of lepton number conservation. It has, since then, drawn attention to it for being useful to study the nature of neutrinos (see quote).
[T]he 0ν mode [...] which violates the lepton number and has been recognized since a long time as a powerful tool to test neutrino properties.
The Italian physicist Ettore Majorana first introduced the concept of a particle being its own antiparticle. Particles' nature was subsequently named after him as Majorana particles. The neutrinoless double beta decay is one method to search for the possible Majorana nature of neutrinos.
Neutrinos are conventionally produced in weak decays. Weak beta decays normally produce one electron (or positron), emit an antineutrino (or neutrino) and increase the nucleus' proton number by one. The nucleus' mass (i.e. binding energy) is then lower and thus more favorable. There exists a number of elements that can decay into a nucleus of lower mass, but they cannot emit one electron only because the resulting nucleus is kinematically (that is, in terms of energy) not favorable (its energy would be higher).
Official source
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