arXiv subjects

Thomas Thümmler

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas Thümmler.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

The Einstein Telescope Pathfinder and its Vacuum System

The Einstein Telescope (ET) will be the next generation gravitational wave observatory in Europe with a sensitivity reaching beyond the CMB into the dark era of the Universe. Each corner of the triangular baseline design is the center of two interferometers with 10 km long arms, one operated at room temperature, the other one with mirrors at cryogenic temperatures of 10-15 K that reduce the noise contribution at frequencies as low as 3 Hz. The ETpathfinder (ET-PF) project at Maastricht University is a R\&D facility for the challenging cryogenic interferometer technology of ET. It is a 20m x 20m interferometer with six towers that will house the seismically decoupled cryogenic Si-mirrors, laser systems, and detectors. The KIT group developed the control system of the ultra-high vacuum system for ET-PF, based on the expertise from the KATRIN neutrino mass experiment. In addition, a test facility is currently being set up at KIT to investigate adsorption and desorption processes of residual gas on the cryogenic mirror surfaces, as well as monitoring techniques and in-situ cleaning procedures. This paper presents the objectives and status of these activities and their contribution towards the next generation gravitational wave observatory.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2017

Determining the neutrino mass with Cyclotron Radiation Emission Spectroscopy - Project 8

The most sensitive direct method to establish the absolute neutrino mass is observation of the endpoint of the tritium beta-decay spectrum. Cyclotron Radiation Emission Spectroscopy (CRES) is a precision spectrographic technique that can probe much of the unexplored neutrino mass range with $\mathcal{O}({\rm eV})$ resolution. A lower bound of $m(ν_e) \gtrsim 9(0.1)\, {\rm meV}$ is set by observations of neutrino oscillations, while the KATRIN Experiment - the current-generation tritium beta-decay experiment that is based on Magnetic Adiabatic Collimation with an Electrostatic (MAC-E) filter - will achieve a sensitivity of $m(ν_e) \lesssim 0.2\,{\rm eV}$. The CRES technique aims to avoid the difficulties in scaling up a MAC-E filter-based experiment to achieve a lower mass sensitivity. In this paper we review the current status of the CRES technique and describe Project 8, a phased absolute neutrino mass experiment that has the potential to reach sensitivities down to $m(ν_e) \lesssim 40\,{\rm meV}$ using an atomic tritium source.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2010

Introduction to direct neutrino mass measurements and KATRIN

The properties of neutrinos and especially their rest mass play an important role at the intersections of cosmology, particle physics and astroparticle physics. At present there are two complementary approaches to address this topic in laboratory experiments. The search for neutrinoless double beta decay probes whether neutrinos are Majorana particles and determines an effective neutrino mass value. On the other hand experiments such as MARE, KATRIN and the recently proposed Project 8 will investigate the spectral shape of beta-decay electrons close to their kinematic endpoint in order to determine the neutrino rest mass with a model-independent method. Here, because of neutrino flavour mixing, the neutrino mass appears as an average of all neutrino mass eigenstates contributing to the electron neutrino. The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino experiment (KATRIN) is currently the experiment in the most advanced status of commissioning. It combines an ultra-luminous molecular windowless gaseous tritium source with an integrating high-resolution spectrometer of MAC-E filter type. It will investigate the neutrino rest mass with 0.2 eV/c (90% C.L.) sensitivity and allow beta spectroscopy close to the tritium endpoint at 18.6 keV with unprecedented precision.

hep-ex↗