First Results from CUORE: A Search for Lepton Number Violation via $0\hat{I}½{\hat{I}}^2{\hat{I}}^2$ Decay of ${}^{130}$Te

Abstract

The CUORE experiment, a ton-scale cryogenic bolometer array, recently began operation at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. The array represents a significant advancement in this technology, and in this work we apply it for the first time to a high-sensitivity search for a lepton-number--violating process: ${}^{130}$Te neutrinoless double-beta decay. Examining a total TeO${}_2$ exposure of 86.3 kg$\cdot$yr, characterized by an effective energy resolution of (7.7 $\pm$ 0.5) keV FWHM and a background in the region of interest of (0.014 $\pm$ 0.002) counts/(keV$\cdot$kg$\cdot$yr), we find no evidence for neutrinoless double-beta decay. The median statistical sensitivity of this search is $7.0\times 10^{24}$ yr. Including systematic uncertainties, we place a lower limit on the decay half-life of $T_{1/2}^{0\hat{I}½}$(${}^{130}$Te) > $1.3\times 10^{25}$ yr (90% C.L.). Combining this result with those of two earlier experiments, Cuoricino and CUORE-0, we find $T_{1/2}^{0\hat{I}½}$(${}^{130}$Te) > $1.5\times 10^{25}$ yr (90% C.L.), which is the most stringent limit to date on this decay. Interpreting this result as a limit on the effective Majorana neutrino mass, we find $m_{{\hat{I}}^2{\hat{I}}^2}<(110-520)$ meV, where the range reflects the nuclear matrix element estimates employed.

Published in PRL, reference and DOI added