Results from the Project 8 phase-1 cyclotron radiation emission spectroscopy detector

Abstract

The Project 8 collaboration seeks to measure the absolute neutrino mass scale by means of precision spectroscopy of the beta decay of tritium. Our technique, cyclotron radiation emission spectroscopy, measures the frequency of the radiation emitted by electrons produced by decays in an ambient magnetic field. Because the cyclotron frequency is inversely proportional to the electron's Lorentz factor, this is also a measurement of the electron's energy. In order to demonstrate the viability of this technique, we have assembled and successfully operated a prototype system, which uses a rectangular waveguide to collect the cyclotron radiation from internal conversion electrons emitted from a gaseous ${}^{83m}$Kr source. Here we present the main design aspects of the first phase prototype, which was operated during parts of 2014 and 2015. We will also discuss the procedures used to analyze these data, along with the features which have been observed and the performance achieved to date.

arXiv comment3 pages; 2 figures; Proceedings of Neutrino 2016, XXVII International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics, 4-9 July 2016, London, UK

References in corpus (4)

• Final Results from phase II of the Mainz Neutrino Mass Search in Tritium $\beta$ Decay
• An upper limit on electron antineutrino mass from Troitsk experiment
• Single electron detection and spectroscopy via relativistic cyclotron radiation
• Relativistic Cyclotron Radiation Detection of Tritium Decay Electrons as a New Technique for Measuring the Neutrino Mass