Speaker
Description
Beta-decay and double-beta-decay experiments measure neutrino masses by using as large a source mass as possible. At present, there are many of these experiments running, notable examples being KATRIN (beta-minus decay of tritium), ECHo (electron capture in holmium) and NEMO (double beta decays of several nuclear species). The first two experiments are clean experiments in the sense that they do not need detailed information on nuclear structure which is hard to get under control. In addition, they exploit the quite small Q value of the decays to enhance the detection sensitivity. Contrary to beta experiments, the third category of experiments, namely double beta experiments, prefer as high a Q value as possible and need knowledge of nuclear structure in the form of nuclear matrix elements (NMEs) in order to unravel the elusive secrets of neutrinos. The talk is aimed at giving some new vistas on beta-decay experiments, like proposals for new low-Q decay candidates. Concerning the double beta experiments, some particular aspects of concern for these experiments and complementary ways to address these concerns by beta spectral analyses and the nuclear muon capture will be discussed.
