Sensitivity of a tonne-scale NEXT detector for neutrinoless double-beta decay searches
C. Adams, V. Álvarez, L. Arazi, I. J. Arnquist, C.D.R. Azevedo, K. Bailey, F. Ballester, J. M. Benlloch-Rodríguez, F.I.G.M. Borges, N. Byrnes, S. Cárcel, J.V. Carríon, S. Cebrián, E. Church, C.A.N. Conde, T. Contreras, A.A. Denisenko, G. A. Díaz, J. Dı́az, J. Escada, R. Esteve, R. Felkai, L. M. P. Fernandes, P. Ferrario, A. L. Ferreira, Frank W. Foss, E.D.C. Freitas, Z. Freixa, J. Generowicz, A. Goldschmidt, J.J. Gómez-Cadenas, Rafael C. González, D. González-Díaz, S. Gosh, R. Guénette, R. M. Gutiérrez, J. Haefner, K. Hafidi, J. Hauptman, C. A. O. Henriques, J. A. Hernando Morata, P. Herrero-Gómez, V. Herrero, J. Ho, Y. Ifergan, B. J. P. Jones, M. Kekic, L. Labarga, A. Laing, P. Lebrun, N. López-March, M. Losada, R. D. P. Mano, J. Martín-Albo, Ángel T. Martı́nez, M. Martínez-Vara, G. Martínez-Lema, A.D. McDonald, Z.-E. Meziani, F. Monrabal, C. M. B. Monteiro, Francisco Mora, J. Muñoz Vidal, Charleston Newhouse, P. Novella, D. R. Nygren, E. Oblak, B. Palmeiro, A. Para, Juan C. Pérez, M. Querol, A. B. Redwine, J. Renner, L. Ripoll, Iván Rivilla, Yarmein Rodríguez García, J. Rodríguez, Celia Rogero, L. Rogers, B. Romeo, C. Romo-Luque, F.P. Santos, J.M.F. dos Santos, A. Simón, M. Sorel, C. Stanford, J. M. R. Teixeira, Pawan Thapa, J.F. Toledo, J. Torrent, A. Usón, J.F.C.A. Veloso, T. T. Vuong, R. Webb, R. Weiss-Babai, James T. White, K. Woodruff, N. Yahlali
Abstract
A bstract The Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC (NEXT) searches for the neutrinoless double-beta (0 νββ ) decay of 136 Xe using high-pressure xenon gas TPCs with electroluminescent amplification. A scaled-up version of this technology with about 1 tonne of enriched xenon could reach in less than 5 years of operation a sensitivity to the half-life of 0 νββ decay better than 10 27 years, improving the current limits by at least one order of magnitude. This prediction is based on a well-understood background model dominated by radiogenic sources. The detector concept presented here represents a first step on a compelling path towards sensitivity to the parameter space defined by the inverted ordering of neutrino masses, and beyond.