Examination of the calorimetric spectrum to determine the neutrino mass in low-energy electron capture decay

Abstract

The standard kinematic method for determining neutrino mass from the beta decay of tritium or other isotope is to measure the shape of the electron spectrum near the endpoint. It has been known for 30 years that a similar distortion of the "visible energy" remaining after electron capture is caused by neutrino mass. There has been a resurgence of interest in using this method with 163-Ho. Recent theoretical analyses offer reassurance that there are no significant theoretical uncertainties. We show that the situation is, however, more complicated, and that the spectrum shape is presently not well enough understood to permit a sensitive determination of the neutrino mass in this way. The theoretical analyses consider only single vacancy states in the daughter 163-Dy atom. It is necessary to consider configurations with more than one vacancy that can be populated owing to the change in nuclear charge. The shakeup and shakeoff theory of Carlson and Nestor is used as a basis for estimating the population of double-vacancy states. A spectrum of satellites associated with each primary vacancy created by electron capture is presented. The theory of the calorimetric spectrum is more complicated than has been described heretofore. There are numerous shakeup and shakeoff satellites present across the spectrum, and some may be very near the endpoint.

arXiv comment8 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. New title. Phys. Rev. C in press

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• Measurement of the rate of nu_e + d --> p + p + e^- interactions produced by 8B solar neutrinos at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
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• Determination of the neutrino mass by electron capture in 163 Holmium and the role of the three-hole states in 163 Dysprosium
• ${}^{159}$Dy electron-capture: a strong new candidate for neutrino mass determination
• Algorithms for Identification of Nearly-Coincident Events in Calorimetric Sensors
• Ab initio calculation of the electron capture spectrum of 163Ho: Auger-Meitner decay into continuum states
• Neutrino Mass, Electron Capture and the Shake-off Contributions
• $\text{Ab initio}$ calculation of the calorimetric electron capture spectrum of ${}^{163}$Holmium: Intra-atomic decay into bound-states
• High-precision electron-capture $Q$ value measurement of ${}^{111}$In for electron-neutrino mass determination
• Most stringent bound on electron neutrino mass obtained with a scalable low temperature microcalorimeter array
• Light sterile neutrino sensitivity of 163Ho experiments
• Constraints on the Active and Sterile Neutrino Masses from Beta-Ray Spectra: Past, Present and Future
• Warm dark matter sterile neutrinos in electron capture and beta decay spectra
• First Calorimetric Measurement of Electron Capture in ${}^{193}$Pt with a Transition Edge Sensor
• Phenomenological Modeling of the ${}^{163}$Ho Calorimetric Electron Capture Spectrum from the HOLMES Experiment