The GERDA experiment searches for the lepton-number-violating neutrinoless double-β decay of ^{76}Ge (^{76}Ge→^{76}Se+2e^{-}) operating bare Ge diodes with an enriched ^{76}Ge fraction in liquid argon. The exposure for broad-energy germanium type (BEGe) detectors is increased threefold with respect to our previous data release. The BEGe detectors feature an excellent background suppression from the analysis of the time profile of the detector signals. In the analysis window a background level of 1.0_{-0.4}^{+0.6}×10^{-3}  counts/(keV kg yr) has been achieved; if normalized to the energy resolution this is the lowest ever achieved in any 0νββ experiment. No signal is observed and a new 90% C.L. lower limit for the half-life of 8.0×10^{25}  yr is placed when combining with our previous data. The expected median sensitivity assuming no signal is 5.8×10^{25}  yr.

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.

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Tunka-Rex is a radio detector for cosmic-ray air showers in Siberia, triggered by Tunka-133, a co-located air-Cherenkov detector. The main goal of Tunka-Rex is the cross-calibration of the two detectors by measuring the air-Cherenkov light and the radio signal emitted by the same air showers. This way we can explore the precision of the radio-detection technique, especially for the reconstruction of the primary energy and the depth of the shower maximum. The latter is sensitive to the mass of the primary cosmic-ray particles. In this paper we describe the detector setup and explain how electronics and antennas have been calibrated. The analysis of data of the first season proves the detection of cosmicray air showers and therefore, the functionality of the detector. We confirm the expected dependence of the detection threshold on the geomagnetic angle and the correlation between the energy of the primary cosmic-ray particle and the radio amplitude. Furthermore, we compare reconstructed amplitudes of radio pulses with predictions from CoREAS simulations, finding agreement within the uncertainties.

A discovery that neutrinos are Majorana fermions would have profound implications for particle physics and cosmology. The Majorana character of neutrinos would make possible the neutrinoless double-β (0νββ) decay, a matter-creating process without the balancing emission of antimatter. The GERDA Collaboration searches for the 0νββ decay of 76Ge by operating bare germanium detectors in an active liquid argon shield. With a total exposure of 82.4 kg⋅year, we observe no signal and derive a lower half-life limit of T1/2 > 0.9 × 1026 years (90% C.L.). Our T1/2 sensitivity, assuming no signal, is 1.1 × 1026 years. Combining the latter with those from other 0νββ decay searches yields a sensitivity to the effective Majorana neutrino mass of 0.07 to 0.16 electron volts.

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We reconstructed the energy and the position of the shower maximum of air showers with energies E 100 PeV applying a method using radio measurements performed with Tunka-Rex. An event-to-event comparison to air-Cherenkov measurements of the same air showers with the Tunka-133 photomultiplier array confirms that the radio reconstruction works reliably. The Tunka-Rex reconstruction methods and absolute scales have been tuned on CoREAS simulations and yield energy and X max values consistent with the Tunka-133 measurements. The results of two independent measurement seasons agree within statistical uncertainties, which gives additional confidence in the radio reconstruction. The energy precision of Tunka-Rex is comparable to the Tunka-133 precision of 15 %, and exhibits a 20 % uncertainty on the absolute scale dominated by the amplitude calibration of the antennas. For X max , this is the first direct experimental correlation of radio measurements with a different, established method. At the moment, the X max resolution of Tunka-Rex is approximately 40 g/cm 2 . This resolution can probably be improved by deploying additional antennas and by further development of the reconstruction methods, since the present analysis does not yet reveal any principle limitations.

Abstract. The observation of neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) would show that lepton number is violated, reveal that neutrinos are Majorana particles, and provide information on neutrino mass. A discovery-capable experiment covering the inverted ordering region, with effective Majorana neutrino masses of 15 − 50 meV, will require a tonne-scale experiment with excellent energy resolution and extremely low backgrounds, at the level of ∼0.1 count /(FWHM·t·yr) in the region of the signal. The current generation 76 Ge experiments GERDA and the Majorana Demonstrator, utilizing high purity Germanium detectors with an intrinsic energy resolution of 0.12%, have achieved the lowest backgrounds by over an order of magnitude in the 0νββ signal region of all 0νββ experiments. Building on this success, the LEGEND collaboration has been formed to pursue a tonne-scale 76 Ge experiment. The collaboration aims to develop a phased 0νββ experimental program with discovery potential at a half-life approaching or at 10 28 years, using existing resources as appropriate to expedite physics results.