Nuclear physics insights for new-physics searches using nuclei: Neutrinoless $\beta \beta$ decay and dark matter direct detection

Abstract

Experiments using nuclei to probe new physics beyond the Standard Model, such as neutrinoless $\beta \beta$ decay searches testing whether neutrinos are their own antiparticle, and direct detection experiments aiming to identify the nature of dark matter, require accurate nuclear physics input for optimizing their discovery potential and for a correct interpretation of their results. This demands a detailed knowledge of the nuclear structure relevant for these processes. For instance, neutrinoless $\beta \beta$ decay nuclear matrix elements are very sensitive to the nuclear correlations in the initial and final nuclei, and the spin-dependent nuclear structure factors of dark matter scattering depend on the subtle distribution of the nuclear spin among all nucleons. In addition, nucleons are composite and strongly interacting, which implies that many-nucleon processes are necessary for a correct description of nuclei and their interactions. It is thus crucial that theoretical studies and experimental analyses consider $\beta$ decays and dark matter interactions with a coupling to two nucleons, called two-nucleon currents.

arXiv comment11 pages, 5 figures, invited parallel talk at the XIIth Quark Confinement & the Hadron Spectrum conference, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2016

References in corpus (42)

• Modern Theory of Nuclear Forces
• Chiral effective field theory and nuclear forces
• Double Beta Decay, Majorana Neutrinos, and Neutrino Mass
• Search for Majorana Neutrinos near the Inverted Mass Hierarchy Region with KamLAND-Zen
• The Effective Field Theory of Dark Matter Direct Detection
• Disassembling the Nuclear Matrix Elements of the Neutrinoless double beta Decay
• Improved Limits on Scattering of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles from Reanalysis of 2013 LUX data
• $0\nu \beta \beta$ and $2\nu \beta \beta$ nuclear matrix elements in the interacting boson model with isospin restoration
• Model-independent WIMP Scattering Responses and Event Rates: A Mathematica Package for Experimental Analysis
• $0\nu \beta \beta$ and $2\nu \beta \beta$ nuclear matrix elements, QRPA, and isospin symmetry restoration
• Three-Nucleon Low-Energy Constants from the Consistency of Interactions and Currents in Chiral Effective Field Theory
• Quantum Phase Transition in the Shape of Zr isotopes
• Nuclear forces and their impact on neutron-rich nuclei and neutron-rich matter
• Chiral two-body currents in nuclei: Gamow-Teller transitions and neutrinoless double-beta decay
• Large-scale nuclear structure calculations for spin-dependent WIMP scattering with chiral effective field theory currents
• Parameter-free effective field theory calculation for the solar proton-fusion and hep processes
• Large-Scale Calculations of the Double-Beta Decay of 76Ge, 130Te, 136Xe, and 150Nd in the Deformed Self-Consistent Skyrme Quasiparticle Random-Phase Approximation
• Shape and pairing fluctuations effects on neutrinoless double beta decay nuclear matrix elements
• Results on the Spin-Dependent Scattering of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles on Nucleons from the Run 3 Data of the LUX Experiment
• Average and recommended half-life values for two neutrino double beta decay
• Systematic study of nuclear matrix elements in neutrinoless double-beta decay with a beyond mean-field covariant density functional theory
• Spin-dependent WIMP scattering off nuclei
• Shell Model description of the beta beta decay of 136Xe
• WIMP-nucleus scattering in chiral effective theory
• Shell model predictions for ${}^{124}$Sn double-beta decay
• Double beta decay of ${}^{48}$Ca
• Analysis strategies for general spin-independent WIMP-nucleus scattering
• Nuclear structure aspects of spin-independent WIMP scattering off xenon
• Novel shell-model analysis of the ${}^{136}$Xe double beta decay nuclear matrix elements
• Large-scale shell-model analysis of the neutrinoless $\beta \beta$ decay of ${}^{48}$Ca
• New contribution to WIMP-nucleus scattering
• Measurement of the double-beta decay half-life and search for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of ${}^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$ with the NEMO-3 detector
• Signatures of Dark Matter Scattering Inelastically Off Nuclei
• Effects of three-nucleon forces and two-body currents on Gamow-Teller strengths
• Effective double-beta-decay operator for 76Ge and 82Se
• Constraining the 0ν2β matrix elements by nuclear structure observables
• New determination of double-beta-decay properties in 48Ca: high-precision Q-value measurement and improved nuclear matrix element calculations
• Testing the importance of collective correlations in neutrinoless $\beta \beta$ decay
• Correlations and neutrinoless $\beta \beta$ decay nuclear matrix elements of $pf$-shell nuclei
• Octupole correlations in low-lying states of 150Nd and 150Sm and their impact on neutrinoless double-beta decay
• Prospects for dark matter detection with inelastic transitions of xenon
• Partial restoration of isospin symmetry for neutrinoless double beta decay in the deformed nuclear system of ${}^{150}$Nd