The search for neutrino-less double-beta decay: summary of current experiments

Abstract

The search for neutrino-less double-beta decay has been a very active field of research in the last decade. Neutrino-less double-beta decay may answer essential open questions in neutrino physics. While double-beta decay accompanied by the emission of two neutrinos is allowed by the Standard Model, the neutrino-less process requires neutrinos to be Majorana particles. Detecting this decay could determine the nature of neutrinos, the neutrino effective mass, and the mass hierarchy. Xenon-136 and germanium-76 experiments currently have the best sensitivities. For both isotopes the lifetime of neutrino-less double-beta decay has been determined to be longer than 10^25 years, several orders of magnitude slower than the slowest process that has been detected. In this paper the basic theory of neutrino-less double-beta decay and its relationship to the neutrino mass are discussed. A review of the experimental efforts underway to measure this decay is presented, along with the status and sensitivity of current and near future searches.