Collaborative Research: Direct Neutrino Mass Measurement with Cryogenic Microcalorimeters

The observations of neutrino oscillations by various experiments have provided definite evidence of a non-zero neutrino mass. The nature of the oscillation measurements however is only sensitive to the square of the mass differences and does not provide information on the absolute mass of the neutrino flavors. There is a new experiment on tritium beta decay, KATRIN which is under construction and aims at a sensitivity of 200 meV. KATRIN may be approaching a fundamental limit and this experiment using a microcalorimeter to measure the beta endpoint of 187Re avoids some of thos issues. There is an Italian experiment developed to measure the neutrino mass from beta decay in a model independent fashion. This experiment will be complementary to KATRIN and it will provide a independent number.

The Broader Impact of this proposal is the opportunity for US students and faculty to become involved in a futuristic and ground breaking experiment by being a part of this development which may also become the technology basis for future larger experiments.