In light of present (EXO) and future (BOREXINO & XMASS) projects searching for evidence of the, as yet, unobserved double-beta decay of 136Xe, an atomic mass difference of 136Xe – 136Ba was determined using the high-precision Manitoba II mass spectrometer at the University of Manitoba. The Q-value for this difference was determined to be 2458.72(56) keV.
The double-beta decay mode can be either neutrino (ββ2υ) or neutrinoless (ββ0υ), where the latter would be proof of the Majorana nature of neutrinos. A ββ0υ decay, which violates several principles of the Standard Model of particle physics, would emit only electrons and would provide a defined peak at the Q-value for the decay. This decay would also require the Majorana neutrino to have a non-zero rest mass and be its own antiparticle.
Results of mass measurements on mass doublets of 135Ba, 136Ba, 137Ba, and 138Ba will be given. An improved measurement of the 116Cd35Cl - 114Cd37Cl doublet, previously done by Meredith et al. in 1973, will also be given.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MANITOBA/oai:mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca:1993/3859 |
| Date | 13 January 2010 |
| Creators | McCowan, Peter |
| Contributors | Barber, R.C.(Physics & Astronomy), Sharma, K.S.(Physics & Astronomy) van Wijngaarden, J.(Chemistry) |
| Source Sets | University of Manitoba Canada |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
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