Abstract
The Mainz neutrino-mass experiment investigates the endpoint region of the tritium β-decay spectrum with a MAC-E spectrometer to determine the mass of the electron antineutrino. By the recent upgrade, the former problem of dewetting T2 films has been solved, and the signal-to-background ratio was improved by a factor of 10. The latest measurement leads to \(m_\nu ^2 = - 3.7 \pm 5.3(stat.) \pm 2.1(syst.){{eV^2 } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{eV^2 } {c^4 }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {c^4 }}\), from which an upper limit of \(m_\nu < 2.8{{eV^2 } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{eV^2 } {c^2 }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {c^2 }}(95\% C.L.)\) is derived. Some indication for the anomaly, reported by the Troitsk group, was found, but its postulated half-year period is contradicted by our data. To push the sensitivity on the neutrino mass below 1 eV/c 2, a new larger MAC-E spectrometer is proposed. Besides its integrating mode, it could run in a new nonintegration operation MAC-E-TOF mode.
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From Yadernaya Fizika, Vol. 63, No. 6, 2000, pp. 1044–1049.
Original English Text Copyright © 2000 by Bonn, B. Bornschein, L. Bornschein, Fickinger, Kazachenko, Kovalik, Kraus, Otten, Ulrich, Weinheimer.
This article was submitted by the authors in English.
On leave from INR, Troitsk, Russia.
On leave from JINR, Dubna, Russia.
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Bonn, J., Bornschein, B., Bornschein, L. et al. Newest results from the Mainz neutrino-mass experiment. Phys. Atom. Nuclei 63, 969–974 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1134/1.855733
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/1.855733