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T. Shickele

Publications and source records attributed to T. Shickele.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Global Ab initio Neutrino Mass Limits from Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay

We present global limits for Majorana neutrino masses by combining latest results from neutrinoless double-beta ($0\nu\beta\beta$) decay searches and ab initio nuclear theory. Limits are derived in a Bayesian framework utilizing likelihood functions from a suite of $0\nu\beta\beta$-decay experiments in conjunction with nuclear matrix elements calculated from nuclear and electroweak forces derived from chiral effective field theory and implemented in the in-medium similarity renormalization group many-body approach. In contrast to nuclear models, ab initio results indicate that the current generation of $0\nu\beta\beta$-decay experiments have likely \textit{not} yet reached sensitivities required to probe the mass regime allowed by neutrino-oscillation data, where the combined bounds are notably stronger than those given by individual experiments. Finally, from predicted sensitivities of next-generation searches, we show that, while no one individual experiment fully covers the inverted mass ordering, this can be achieved from combined contributions from the four key isotopes: $^{76}$Ge, $^{100}$Mo, $^{130}$Te, and $^{136}$Xe.

nucl-th

Ab initio short-range nuclear matrix elements for neutrinoless double-beta decay

We present converged ab initio calculations of short-range neutrinoless double-beta ($0\nu\beta\beta$) decay nuclear matrix elements for the key experimental isotopes $^{76}$Ge, $^{82}$Se, $^{130}$Te and $^{136}$Xe. Starting from different nuclear forces derived from chiral effective field theory, we apply the in-medium similarity renormalization group to obtain an effective valence-space Hamiltonian along with consistently transformed $0\nu\beta\beta$-decay operators. We then obtain a range of values for the matrix elements that is consistent with, but generally smaller than, those from phenomenology. Finally, we combine our results with current limits from $0\nu\beta\beta$-decay searches to obtain constraints for the sterile-neutrino mixing-mass parameter space when considering the inclusion of a fourth, sterile neutrino.

nucl-th

Constraining the trend of the $N = 50$ shell gap towards $^{100}$Sn with the masses of $^{96-98}$Cd

We present the first determination of the $N = 50$ empirical shell gap at $Z = 48$ by precise mass measurements of the neutron-deficient cadmium isotopes $^{96-98}$Cd with the ISOLTRAP mass spectrometer at ISOLDE-CERN, including the first precise determination of the excitation energy of the $25/2^+$ isomer in $^{97}$Cd. Through the systematics of Coulomb Displacement Energies, we further deduce the empirical shell gap in the higher-$Z$ isotopic chains, tightly constraining the $^{100}$Sn mass-surface region. The new experimental data suggest an enhancement of the gap towards $^{100}$Sn, which is discussed in comparison to state-of-the-art calculations using energy-density functional and new ab initio approaches.

nucl-ex