Neutrino oscillations not only demonstrate that neutrinos have mass but also imply the existence of new symmetries beyond the Standard Model. These new observations strongly motivate further studies of the intrinsic properties of neutrinos, including tests of whether they are Majorana or Dirac-type particles. Natural conjectures suggest that a deeper understanding of neutrinos may provide a glimpse onto phenomena at a Planck-scale energy level, could broaden our knowledge of the fundamental forces, could shed light onto the initial creation of leptons and baryons, and can help to improve our understanding of the early evolution of the Universe. Majorana-type neutrinos lead to a neutrinoless double beta decay (NDBD) − the second-order weak nuclear process for which an initial state nucleus with atomic weight and number (A, Z) is transformed into a nucleus of (A, Z + 2), with the emission of only two electrons. In this transition, the lepton number changes by two units and the two electrons in the final state carry the energy equal to the energy of nuclear transition. This award will provide funds to purchase 200 8-inch diameter PMTs to complete the construction of the first SuperNEMO module, the Demonstrator. The next three years are critical so this contribution is timely and crucial to the success of this phase of the experiment.
Among the broader impacts of this project, unraveling the nature of neutrinos will have far-reaching implications for better understanding of elementary particles and their fundamental interactions. On the technical side, the group is developing a unique low background counting technique which may be applied outside of physics and can be of general benefit to society. They educate and train young researchers in building state-of-the-art science projects. They propose to build an exhibit gallery on the UT campus illustrating the discovery, the underlying physics, and applications of natural radioactivity, cosmic rays, and related subatomic phenomena.
