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Since the discovery of neutrino oscillations, we know that neutrinos have non-zero mass. However, the absolute neutrino-mass scale remains unknown. Here we report the upper limits on effective electron anti-neutrino mass, mν, from the second physics run of the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino experiment. In this experiment, mν is probed via a high-precision measurement of the tritium β-decay spectrum close to its endpoint. This method is independent of any cosmological model and does not rely on assumptions whether the neutrino is a Dirac or Majorana particle. By increasing the source activity and reducing the background with respect to the first physics campaign, we reached a sensitivity on mν of 0.7 eV c–2 at a 90% confidence level (CL). The best fit to the spectral data yields $${{\mbox{}}}{m}_{\nu }^{2}{{\mbox{}}}$$ m ν 2  = (0.26 ± 0.34) eV2 c–4, resulting in an upper limit of mν < 0.9 eV c–2 at 90% CL. By combining this result with the first neutrino-mass campaign, we find an upper limit of mν < 0.8 eV c–2 at 90% CL.

The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment, which aims to make a direct and model-independent determination of the absolute neutrino mass scale, is a complex experiment with many components. More than 15 years ago, we published a technical design report (TDR) [1] to describe the hardware design and requirements to achieve our sensitivity goal of 0.2 eV at 90% C.L. on the neutrino mass. Since then there has been considerable progress, culminating in the publication of first neutrino mass results with the entire beamline operating [2]. In this paper, we document the current state of all completed beamline components (as of the first neutrino mass measurement campaign), demonstrate our ability to reliably and stably control them over long times, and present details on their respective commissioning campaigns. K: Beam-line instrumentation (beam position and profile monitors, beam-intensity monitors, bunch length monitors); Spectrometers; Gas systems and purification; Neutrino detectors A X P : 2103.04755Neutrino-mass mode. This is the standard mode of operation to continually adjust the retarding voltage of the MS in the range of [ 0 − 40 eV; 0 + 50 eV] while tritium is in the system. This scanning range can be adjusted if required. The voltage and the time spent at each setting are defined by the Measurement Time Distribution (MTD) (figure 3). A typical run at a given voltage lasts between 20 s and 600 s; a full scan of the energy range given above takes about 2 h. Of these standard neutrino-mass runs, a small portion will be dedicated to sterile neutrino searches. These searches involve scanning much farther (order of keV) below the endpoint 0 .Calibration mode. To check the long-term system stability, calibration measurements are done regularly. The neutrino-mass mode is suspended for the duration of these measurement:• An energy calibration of the FPD (section 6) is performed weekly, which requires closing off the detector system from the main beamline for about 4 h.• The offset and the gain correction factor of the low-voltage readout in the high-voltage measurement chain needs to be calibrated based on standard reference sources (section 5.3.4). This requires stopping the precision monitoring of the MS retarding potential twice per week for about 0.5 h each.

Measurements of the energy loss of fast electrons at an energy of 18 keV have been performed on molecules of hydrogen isotopes, gaseous T2 and frozen D2. Whereas in the case of gaseous T2 the values of total inelastic cross-section (σtot, gaseous = (3.40 ± 0.07) × 10 −18 cm 2 for E = 18.6 keV), average energy loss (εgaseous = (29.9 ± 1.0) eV) and peak position of the energy loss spectra (ε1, gaseous = 12.6 eV) agree well with the expectations, the corresponding values for quench condensed D2 differ significantly from the ones for gaseous T2. We observe a significant lower total inelastic cross-section (σ tot, solid = (2.98 ± 0.16) × 10 −18 cm 2 , for E = 18.6 keV) larger average energy loss (ε solid = (34.4 ± 3.0) eV) and higher peak position (ε 1, solid = (14.1 +0.7 −0.6 ) eV). These differences may be interpreted in terms of changes of the final state spectrum. A CI calculation for a D2 cluster shows indeed a clear shift of the excited states in agreement with the observation. PACS.34.80.Gs Molecular excitation and ionization by electron impact -78.90.+t Other topics in optical properties, condensed matter spectroscopy and other interactions of particles and radiation with condensed matter