New high intensity Heavy - Ion beams @ INFN-LNS: NUMEN project status and perspective

Abstract

The upgrade project POTLNS to produce high-intensity beams has already started at INFN- Laboratori Nazionali del Sud in Catania (Italy). The POTLNS project was triggered by the NUMEN physics case that aims to provide experimental information on the Nuclear Matrix Elements (NMEs) that enter in the expression of the neutrino-less double beta (0νββ) decay half-life. The tools proposed by NUMEN project are the cross-section measurements of nuclear Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reactions. The search for 0νββ decay is currently a key topic in physics, due to its possible wide implications for nuclear physics, particle physics and cosmology: the NUMEN project could provide a crucial contribution in this search.