Speaker
Dr
Giovanni Benato
(University of California Berkeley)
Description
The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is the first bolometric experiment searching for neutrinoless double beta decay ($0\nu\beta\beta$) that has been able to reach the one-ton scale. The detector consists of an array of 988 TeO$_2$ crystals arranged in a compact cylindrical structure of 19 towers. The construction of the experiment was completed in August 2016 with the installation of all towers in the cryostat. Following a cooldown, diagnostic, and optimization campaign, routine data-taking began in spring 2017. In this talk, we present the $0\nu\beta\beta$ results of CUORE from examining a total TeO$_2$ exposure of 86.3 kg$\cdot$yr, characterized by an average energy resolution of 7.7 keV FWHM and a background in the region of interest of 0.014 counts/(keV$\cdot$kg$\cdot$yr). In this physics run, CUORE placed the current best lower limit on the 130Te $0\nu\beta\beta$ half-life of $>1.3\times10^{25}$ yr (90$\%$ C.I.). We then discuss the additional improvements in the detector performance achieved in 2018, the latest evaluation of the CUORE background budget, and we finally present the most precise measurement of the $^{130}$Te $2\nu\beta\beta$ half-life to date.
