Search

The fact that neutrinos carry a non-vanishing rest mass is evidence ofphysics beyond the Standard Model of elementary particles. Their absolute massbears important relevance from particle physics to cosmology. In this work, wereport on the search for the effective electron antineutrino mass with theKATRIN experiment. KATRIN performs precision spectroscopy of the tritium$\beta$-decay close to the kinematic endpoint. Based on the first fiveneutrino-mass measurement campaigns, we derive a best-fit value of $m_u^{2} ={-0.14^{+0.13}_{-0.15}}~\mathrm{eV^2}$, resulting in an upper limit of $m_u <{0.45}~\mathrm{eV}$ at 90 % confidence level. With six times the statistics ofprevious data sets, amounting to 36 million electrons collected in 259measurement days, a substantial reduction of the background level and improvedsystematic uncertainties, this result tightens KATRIN's previous bound by afactor of almost two.

Some extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics allow for Lorentz invariance and charge-parity-time invariance violations. In the neutrino sector strong constraints have been set by neutrino-oscillation and time-of-flight experiments. However, some Lorentz-invariance-violating parameters are not accessible via these probes. In this work, we focus on the parameters (aof(3))00, (aof(3))10, and (aof(3))11 which would manifest themselves in a nonisotropic β-decaying source as a sidereal oscillation and an overall shift of the spectral endpoint. Based on the data of the first scientific run of the KATRIN experiment, we set the first 90% confidence-level limit on |(aof(3))11| of

In this work we present a keV-scale sterile-neutrino search with a low-tritium-activity data set of the KATRIN experiment, acquired in a commissioning run in 2018. KATRIN performs a spectroscopic measurement of the tritium β -decay spectrum with the main goal of directly determining the effective electron anti-neutrino mass. During this commissioning phase a lower tritium activity facilitated the measurement of a wider part of the tritium spectrum and thus the search for sterile neutrinos with a mass of up to 1.6keV . We do not find a signal and set an exclusion limit on the sterile-to-active mixing amplitude of sin 2θ< 5 × 10 - 4 (95 % C.L.) at a mass of 0.3 keV. This result improves current laboratory-based bounds in the sterile-neutrino mass range between 0.1 and 1.0 keV.

The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment is designed to measure a high-precision integral spectrum of the endpoint region of T2 β decay, with the primary goal of probing the absolute mass scale of the neutrino. After a first tritium commissioning campaign in 2018, the experiment has been regularly running since 2019, and in its first two measurement campaigns has already achieved a sub-eV sensitivity. After 1000 days of data-taking, KATRIN’s design sensitivity is 0.2 eV at the 90% confidence level. In this white paper we describe the current status of KATRIN; explore prospects for measuring the neutrino mass and other physics observables, including sterile neutrinos and other beyond-Standard-Model hypotheses; and discuss research-and-development projects that may further improve the KATRIN sensitivity.

We report on the direct search for cosmic relic neutrinos using data acquired during the first two science campaigns of the KATRIN experiment in 2019. Beta-decay electrons from a high-purity molecular tritium gas source are analyzed by a high-resolution MAC-E filter around the end point at 18.57 keV. The analysis is sensitive to a local relic neutrino overdensity ratio of η

We present the results of the light sterile neutrino search from the second Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) measurement campaign in 2019. Approaching nominal activity, 3.76×106 tritium β-electrons are analyzed in an energy window extending down to 40 eV below the tritium end point at E0=18.57 keV. We consider the 3ν+1 framework with three active and one sterile neutrino flavors. The analysis is sensitive to a fourth mass eigenstate m42≲1600 eV2 and active-to-sterile mixing |Ue4|2≳6×10-3. As no sterile-neutrino signal was observed, we provide improved exclusion contours on m42 and |Ue4|2 at 95% C.L. Our results supersede the limits from the Mainz and Troitsk experiments. Furthermore, we are able to exclude the large Δm412 solutions of the reactor antineutrino and gallium anomalies to a great extent. The latter has recently been reaffirmed by the BEST Collaboration and could be explained by a sterile neutrino with large mixing. While the remaining solutions at small Δm412 are mostly excluded by short-baseline reactor experiments, KATRIN is the only ongoing laboratory experiment to be sensitive to relevant solutions at large Δm412 through a robust spectral shape analysis.

Since the discovery of neutrino oscillations, we know that neutrinos have non-zero mass. However, the absolute neutrino-mass scale remains unknown. Here we report the upper limits on effective electron anti-neutrino mass, mν, from the second physics run of the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino experiment. In this experiment, mν is probed via a high-precision measurement of the tritium β-decay spectrum close to its endpoint. This method is independent of any cosmological model and does not rely on assumptions whether the neutrino is a Dirac or Majorana particle. By increasing the source activity and reducing the background with respect to the first physics campaign, we reached a sensitivity on mν of 0.7 eV c–2 at a 90% confidence level (CL). The best fit to the spectral data yields mν2 = (0.26 ± 0.34) eV2 c–4, resulting in an upper limit of mν < 0.9 eV c–2 at 90% CL. By combining this result with the first neutrino-mass campaign, we find an upper limit of mν < 0.8 eV c–2 at 90% CL.

We report on the dataset, data handling, and detailed analysis techniques of the first neutrino-mass measurement by the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment, which probes the absolute neutrino-mass scale via the β-decay kinematics of molecular tritium. The source is highly pure, cryogenic T2 gas. The β electrons are guided along magnetic field lines toward a high-resolution, integrating spectrometer for energy analysis. A silicon detector counts β electrons above the energy threshold of the spectrometer, so that a scan of the thresholds produces a precise measurement of the high-energy spectral tail. After detailed theoretical studies, simulations, and commissioning measurements, extending from the molecular final-state distribution to inelastic scattering in the source to subtleties of the electromagnetic fields, our independent, blind analyses allow us to set an upper limit of 1.1 eV on the neutrino-mass scale at a 90% confidence level. This first result, based on a few weeks of running at a reduced source intensity and dominated by statistical uncertainty, improves on prior limits by nearly a factor of two. This result establishes an analysis framework for future KATRIN measurements, and provides important input to both particle theory and cosmology.

AbstractThe KATRIN experiment is designed for a direct and model-independent determination of the effective electron anti-neutrino mass via a high-precision measurement of the tritium $$\upbeta $$ β -decay endpoint region with a sensitivity on $$m_\nu $$ m ν of 0.2 $$\hbox {eV}/\hbox {c}^2$$ eV / c 2 (90% CL). For this purpose, the $$\upbeta $$ β -electrons from a high-luminosity windowless gaseous tritium source traversing an electrostatic retarding spectrometer are counted to obtain an integral spectrum around the endpoint energy of 18.6 keV. A dominant systematic effect of the response of the experimental setup is the energy loss of $$\upbeta $$ β -electrons from elastic and inelastic scattering off tritium molecules within the source. We determined the energy-loss function in-situ with a pulsed angular-selective and monoenergetic photoelectron source at various tritium-source densities. The data was recorded in integral and differential modes; the latter was achieved by using a novel time-of-flight technique. We developed a semi-empirical parametrization for the energy-loss function for the scattering of 18.6-keV electrons from hydrogen isotopologs. This model was fit to measurement data with a 95% $$\hbox {T}_2$$ T 2 gas mixture at 30 K, as used in the first KATRIN neutrino-mass analyses, as well as a $$\hbox {D}_2$$ D 2 gas mixture of 96% purity used in KATRIN commissioning runs. The achieved precision on the energy-loss function has abated the corresponding uncertainty of $$\sigma (m_\nu ^2)< {{10}^{-2}}{\hbox {eV}^{2}}$$ σ ( m ν 2 ) < 10 - 2 eV 2 [1] in the KATRIN neutrino-mass measurement to a subdominant level.

We report on the light sterile neutrino search from the first four-week science run of the KATRIN experiment in 2019. Beta-decay electrons from a high-purity gaseous molecular tritium source are analyzed by a high-resolution MAC-E filter down to 40 eV below the endpoint at 18.57 keV. We consider the framework with three active neutrinos and one sterile neutrino. The analysis is sensitive to the mass, m_{4}, of the fourth mass state for m_{4}^{2}≲1000  eV^{2} and to active-to-sterile neutrino mixing down to |U_{e4}|^{2}≳2×10^{-2}. No significant spectral distortion is observed and exclusion bounds on the sterile mass and mixing are reported. These new limits supersede the Mainz results for m_{4}^{2}≲1000  eV^{2} and improve the Troitsk bound for m_{4}^{2}

The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino experiment (KATRIN) aims to determine the effective electron (anti)-neutrino mass with a sensitivity of 0.2eV/c2 by precisely measuring the endpoint region of the tritium β-decay spectrum. It uses a tandem of electrostatic spectrometers working as magnetic adiabatic collimation combined with an electrostatic (MAC-E) filters. In the space between the pre-spectrometer and the main spectrometer, creating a Penning trap is unavoidable when the superconducting magnet between the two spectrometers, biased at their respective nominal potentials, is energized. The electrons accumulated in this trap can lead to discharges, which create additional background electrons and endanger the spectrometer and detector section downstream. To counteract this problem, “electron catchers” were installed in the beamline inside the magnet bore between the two spectrometers. These catchers can be moved across the magnetic-flux tube and intercept on a sub-ms time scale the stored electrons along their magnetron motion paths. In this paper, we report on the design and the successful commissioning of the electron catchers and present results on their efficiency in reducing the experimental background.

The determination of the neutrino mass is one of the major challenges in astroparticle physics today. Direct neutrino mass experiments, based solely on the kinematics of β -decay, provide a largely model-independent probe to the neutrino mass scale. The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment is designed to directly measure the effective electron antineutrino mass with a sensitivity of 0.2eV (90 % CL). In this work we report on the first operation of KATRIN with tritium which took place in 2018. During this commissioning phase of the tritium circulation system, excellent agreement of the theoretical prediction with the recorded spectra was found and stable conditions over a time period of 13 days could be established. These results are an essential prerequisite for the subsequent neutrino mass measurements with KATRIN in 2019.

Abstract Background Ritter's method is a tool used to optimize AV delay in DDD pacemaker patients with normal left ventricular function only. The goal of our study was to evaluate Ritter's method in AV delay-interval optimization in patients with reduced left ventricular function. Methods Patients with implanted DDD pacemakers and AVB III° were assigned to one of two groups according to ejection fraction (EF): Group 1 (EF > 35%) and Group 2 (EF < 35%). AV delay optimization was performed by means of radionuclide ventriculography (RNV) and application of Ritter's method. Results For each of the patients examined, we succeeded in defining an optimal AV interval by means of both RNV and Ritter's method. The optimal AV delay determined by RNV correlated well with the delay found by Ritter's method, especially among those patients with reduced EF. The intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.8965 in Group 1 and 0.9228 in Group 2. The optimal AV interval in Group 1 was 190 ± 28.5 ms, and 180 ± 35 ms in Group 2. Conclusion Ritter's method is also effective for optimization of AV intervals among patients with reduced left ventricular function (EF < 35%). The results obtained by RNV correlate well with those from Ritter's method. Individual programming of the AV interval is fundamentally essential in all cases.

We investigated the magnetic field effect (MFE) on current and electroluminescence in organic light emitting diodes based on poly(paraphenylene vinylene). The MFE was strictly positive in the full range of device operation and showed nonmonotonic dependencies on applied voltage and temperature. Furthermore, the MFE on current obtained in bipolar devices was significantly larger than in hole-dominated devices. We discuss our results in the framework of an electron-hole pair model and show that the model can explain all functional dependencies observed in our devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, it has been discovered that the magnetic field effect (MFE) in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on poly(para-phenylene vinylene) can be enhanced by exposing the diode to moderate electrical stress. Here, we disclose the mechanism behind this way of improving the MFE. We first show that electronic traps in general play an important role for the MFE. Optical depletion of available trap states by infrared illumination leads to a decrease in the MFE. Furthermore, we demonstrate that annealing of the OLED at high temperatures eliminates the MFE improvement of the previously performed electrical conditioning. However, the improvement can be restored by subsequent conditioning at higher current or voltage. Thus it is likely that electrical stress is accompanied by a transformation of the polymer morphology or conformation resulting in a formation of energetic traps for charge carriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A self-consistent model of bipolar charge-carrier injection and transport processes in a semiconductor/insulator/conductor system is developed, which incorporates space-charge effects in the description of the injection process. The amount of charge carriers injected is strongly determined by the energy barrier emerging at the contact, but at the same time the electrostatic potential generated by the injected charge carriers modifies the height of this injection barrier itself. In our model, self-consistency is obtained by assuming continuity of the electric displacement and of the electrochemical potential all over the system. The constituents of the system are properly taken into account by means of their respective density of state distributions. The consequences resulting from our model are discussed on the basis of an indium tin oxide/organic semiconductor/conductor structure. The distributions of the charge carriers and the electric field through the electrodes and the organic layer are calculated. The recombination- and current-voltage characteristics are analyzed for different heights of injection barriers and varying values of the recombination rate and compared with the measured current-voltage dependences for an indium tin oxide/poly(phenylene vinylene)/Ca structure. The voltage dependences of the recombination efficiency for the different values of injection barriers and recombination rate reveal optimum conditions for the device performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A consistent device model to describe current-voltage characteristics of metal/insulator/metal systems is developed. In this model the insulator and the metal electrodes are described within the same theoretical framework using density of states distributions. This approach leads to differential equations for the electric field which have to be solved in a self-consistent manner by considering the continuity of the electric displacement and the electrochemical potential in the complete system. The model is capable of describing the current-voltage characteristics of the metal/insulator/metal system in forward and reverse biases for arbitrary values of the metal/insulator injection barriers. In the case of high injection barriers, approximations are provided offering a tool for comparison with experiments. Numerical calculations are performed exemplarily using a simplified model of an organic semiconductor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a newly developed self-consistent, mean-field model, which can be used for examining the charge-carrier injection and unipolar transport exhibited by an organic semiconductor diode. The model is shown to be based on the analysis of the realistic density-of-states distribution and the presence of trap states in an organic material.

Self-consistent mean-field model of charge injection based on the matching of electric displacement and electrochemical potential in the electrode and the insulator is extended so as to account for discreteness of charge carriers. The improved scheme includes both the Schottky barrier lowering due to the individual image charge and the barrier change due to the field penetration into the injecting electrode. Applications of the theory to the cases of high-permittivity dielectric capacitors and organic light-emitting diodes are exemplarily presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]