Direct mass measurements of Hg-194 and Au-194: A new route to the neutrino mass determination?

作者：Eliseev S^*; Boehm Ch; Beck D; Blaum K; Breitenfeldt M; Fedosseev V N; George S; Herfurth F; Herlert A; Kluge H J; Kowalska M; Lunney D; Naimi S; Neidherr D; Novikov Yu N; Rosenbusch M; Schweikhard L; Schwarz S; Seliverstov M; Zuber K

来源：Physics Letters B, 2010, 693(4): 426-429.

DOI：10.1016/j.physletb.2010.08.071

• Atomic masses
• Penning trap
• Mass spectrometry
• Neutrino mass

The study of nuclear electron capture (EC) offers an exciting alternative for the determination of the neutrino mass. Whereas only tritium and Re-187 can be used in the case of beta-decay experiments involving the anti-neutrino, a potentially large number of EC-nuclides can be used in experiments involving the monochromatic neutrino. This alternative to beta-decay experiments requires an accurate measurement of Q(EC)-values of appropriate candidates. In the present work we initiate a search for such a candidate and determined the Q(EC)-value of the electron capture in Hg-194 by direct mass measurements of 194Hg and Au-194. The new Q(EC)-value of 29(4) key determined by the ISOLTRAP Penning-trap mass spectrometer at ISOLDE/CERN forbids the K-capture for Hg-194. However, it allows a determination of the neutrino mass by a combination of a micro-calorimetric measurement of the de-excitation spectrum from L-capture in Hg-194 and a comparable Q(EC)-value remeasurement by high-precision Penning trap mass spectrometry.

• 出版日期2010-10-11