Most stringent bound on electron neutrino mass obtained with a scalable low temperature microcalorimeter array

Abstract

The determination of the absolute neutrino mass scale remains a fundamental open question in particle physics, with profound implications for both the Standard Model and cosmology. Direct kinematic measurements, independent of model-dependent assumptions, provide the most robust approach to address this challenge. In this Letter, we present the most stringent upper bound on the effective electron neutrino mass ever obtained with a calorimetric measurement of the electron capture decay of ${}^{163}$Ho. The HOLMES experiment employs an array of ion-implanted transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeters, achieving an average energy resolution of 6 eV FWHM with a scalable, multiplexed readout technique. With a total of $7\times 10^7$ decay events recorded over two months and a Bayesian statistical analysis, we derive an upper limit of $m_{\hat{I}}^2<27$ eV/c${}^2$ at 90% credibility. These results validate the feasibility of ${}^{163}$Ho calorimetry for next-generation neutrino mass experiments and demonstrate the potential of a scalable TES-based microcalorimetric technique to push the sensitivity of direct neutrino mass measurements beyond the current state of the art.

12 pages, 7 figures. Published on PRL