Consistency test of neutrinoless double beta decay with one isotope

Abstract

We discuss a consistency test which makes it possible to discriminate unknown nuclear background lines from neutrinoless double beta decay with only one isotope. By considering both the transition to the ground state and to the first excited $0^{+}$ state, a sufficiently large detector can reveal if neutrinoless double beta decay or some other nuclear physics process is at work. Such a detector could therefore simultaneously provide a consistency test for a certain range of Majorana masses and be sensitive to lower values of the effective Majorana mass.

1+12 pages, 4 figures; v2: discussion enhanced, figures improved, matches journal version

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• Unraveling the $0\nu \beta \beta$ Decay Mechanisms
• Reactor Neutrino Experiments: Present and Future
• Kiloton-scale xenon detectors for neutrinoless double beta decay and other new physics searches
• Searches for Double Beta Decay of ${}^{134}$Xe with EXO-200
• Search for $2\nu \beta \beta$ decay of ${}^{136}$Xe to the 0${}_1^{+}$ excited state of ${}^{136}$Ba with EXO-200
• $2\nu \beta \beta$-decay to first $2^{+}$ state with partial isospin symmetry restoration from spherical QRPA calculations
• $0\nu \beta \beta$ to the first $2^{+}$ state with two-nucleon mechanism for L-R symmetric model
• Sensitivity of neutrinoless double beta decays from a combined analysis of ground and excited states