Background: The discovery of neutrinoless double-beta ($0νββ$) decay would demonstrate the nature of neutrinos, have profound implications for our understanding of matter-antimatter mystery, and solve the mass hierarchy problem of neutrinos. The calculations for the nuclear matrix elements $M^{0ν}$ of $0νββ$ decay are crucial for the interpretation of this process. Purpose: We study the effects of relativity and nucleon-nucleon short-range correlations on the nuclear matrix elements $M^{0ν}$ by assuming the mechanism of exchanging light or heavy neutrinos for the $0νββ$ decay. Methods: The nuclear matrix elements $M^{0ν}$ are calculated within the framework of covariant density functional theory, where the beyond-mean-field correlations are included in the nuclear wave functions by configuration mixing of both angular-momentum and particle-number projected quadrupole deformed mean-field states. Results: The nuclear matrix elements $M^{0ν}$ are obtained for ten $0νββ$-decay candidate nuclei. The impact of relativity is illustrated by adopting relativistic or nonrelativistic decay operators. The effects of short-range correlations are evaluated. Conclusions: The effects of relativity and short-range correlations play an important role in the mechanism of exchanging heavy neutrinos though the influences are marginal for light neutrinos. Combining the nuclear matrix elements $M^{0ν}$ with the observed lower limits on the $0νββ$-decay half-lives, the predicted strongest limits on the effective masses are $|\langle m_ν\rangle|<0.06~\mathrm{eV}$ for light neutrinos and $|\langle m_{ν_h}^{-1}\rangle|^{-1}>3.065\times 10^8~\mathrm{GeV}$ for heavy neutrinos.
The detection of neutrinoless double-beta decay will establish the Majorana nature of neutrinos. In addition, if the nuclear matrix elements of this process are reliably known, the experimental lifetime will provide precious information about the absolute neutrino masses and hierarchy. I review the status of nuclear structure calculations for neutrinoless double-beta decay matrix elements, and discuss some key issues to be addressed in order to meet the demand for accurate nuclear matrix elements.
Nuclear matrix elements (NME) for the most promising candidates to detect neutrinoless double beta decay have been computed with energy density functional methods including deformation and pairing fluctuations explicitly on the same footing. The method preserves particle number and angular momentum symmetries and can be applied to any decay without additional fine tunings. The finite range density dependent Gogny force is used in the calculations. An increase of $10\%-40\%$ in the NME with respect to the ones found without the inclusion of pairing fluctuations is obtained, reducing the predict…
The nuclear matrix elements that govern the rate of neutrinoless double beta decay must be accurately calculated if experiments are to reach their full potential. Theorists have been working on the problem for a long time but have recently stepped up their efforts as ton-scale experiments have begun to look feasible. Here we review past and recent work on the matrix elements in a wide variety of nuclear models and discuss work that will be done in the near future. Ab initio nuclear-structure theory, which is developing rapidly, holds out hope of more accurate matrix elements with quantifiable …
We explore the influence of the deformation on the nuclear matrix elements of the neutrinoless double beta decay (NME), concluding that the difference in deformation -or more generally in the amount of quadrupole correlations- between parent and grand daughter nuclei quenches strongly the decay. We correlate these differences with the seniority structure of the nuclear wave functions. In this context, we examine the present discrepancies between the NME's obtained in the framework of the Interacting Shell Model and the Quasiparticle RPA. We surmise that part of the discrepancy can be due to th…
We analyze nuclear matrix elements (NME) of neutrinoless double beta decay calculated for the Cadmium isotopes. Energy density functional methods including beyond mean field effects such as symmetry restoration and shape mixing are used. Strong shell effects are found associated to the underlying nuclear structure of the initial and final nuclei. Furthermore, we show that NME for two-neutrino double beta decay evaluated in the closure approximation, $M^{2ν}_{\mathrm{cl}}$, display a constant proportionality with respect to the Gamow-Teller part of the neutrinoless NME, $M^{0ν}_{\mathrm{GT}}$. …
A derivation of the neutrinoless double beta decay rate, specially adapted for the nuclear structure calculations, is presented. It is shown that the Fourier-Bessel expansion of the hadronic currents, jointly with the angular momentum recoupling, leads to very simple final expressions for the nuclear form factors. This greatly facilitates the theoretical estimate of the half life. Our approach does not require the closure approximation, which however can be implemented if desired. The method is exemplified for the $ββ$ decay $^{48}Ca \to ^{48}Ti$, both within the QRPA and a shell-model like mo…
We devise a framework based on the generalized contact formalism that combines the nuclear shell model and quantum Monte Carlo methods and compute the neutrinoless double-beta decay of experimentally relevant nuclei, including $^{76}$Ge, $^{130}$Te, and $^{136}$Xe. In light nuclei, we validate our nuclear matrix element calculations by comparing against accurate variational Monte Carlo results. Due to additional correlations captured by quantum Monte Carlo and introduced within the generalized contact formalism, in heavier systems, we obtain long-range nuclear matrix elements that are about 30…
We compute nuclear matrix elements for neutrinoless double electron capture on $^{152}$Gd, $^{164}$Er and $^{180}$W nuclei. Recent precise mass measurements for these nuclei have shown a large resonance enhancement factor that makes them the most promising candidates for observing this decay mode. We use an advanced energy density functional method which includes beyond mean-field effects such as symmetry restoration and shape mixing. Our calculations reproduce experimental charge radii and $B(E2)$ values predicting a large deformation for all these nuclei. This fact reduces significantly the …
Neutrinoless $ββ$ decay nuclear matrix elements calculated with the shell model and energy-density functional theory typically disagree by more than a factor of two in the standard scenario of light-neutrino exchange. In contrast, for a decay mediated by sterile heavy neutrinos the deviations are reduced to about 50\%, an uncertainty similar to the one due to short-range effects. We compare matrix elements in the light- and heavy-neutrino-exchange channels, exploring the radial, momentum transfer and angular momentum-parity matrix element distributions, and considering transitions that involve…
Accurate nuclear matrix elements (NMEs) for neutrinoless double beta decays of candidate nuclei are important for the design and interpretation of future experiments. Significant progress has been made in the modeling of these NMEs from first principles. The NME for 48Ca shows a good agreement among three different ab initio calculations starting from the same nuclear interaction constructed within the chiral EFT and the same decay operator. These studies open the door to ab initio calculations of the matrix elements for the decay of heavier nuclei such as 76Ge, 130Te, and 136Xe. The ultimate …
Searches of neutrinoless double-beta decay require information on the value of the nuclear matrix elements that rule the process to plan and interpret experiments. At present, however, even the matrix elements obtained with the most reliable many-body approaches do not agree to each other better than a factor two or three. A usual test of the many-body calculations is the comparison to several nuclear observables, but so far no nuclear structure property has been found to show a good correlation to neutrinoless double-beta decay. Here we propose that double charge-exchange experiments can offe…
The physics potential of neutrinoless double beta decay is discussed. Furthermore, experimental considerations are presented as well as the current status of experiments. Finally an outlook towards the future, work on nuclear matrix elements and alternative processes is given.
The calculated nuclear matrix elements for the neutrinoless double-beta ($0νββ$) decay suffer from several limitations. Predicted matrix-element values depend on the many-body method used to calculate them and, in addition, they may need to be "quenched", albeit by an unknown amount due to the relatively high momentum transferred in the decay. These uncertainties are hard to figure out from theoretical calculations alone because of the unique character of $0νββ$ decay, not clearly related to other nuclear structure observables. We present recent progress in the determination of the nuclear mat…
We calculate the nuclear matrix elements (NMEs) for neutrinoless double-beta decays ($0νββ$) of $pf$-shell nuclei using the shell model (SM) and energy density functional (EDF) methods. The systematic study of non-physical decays (except for $^{48}$Ca) of Ca$\rightarrow$Ti, Ti$\rightarrow$Cr and Cr$\rightarrow$Fe allows for a detailed comparison between the two nuclear structure approaches. We observe that while the dominant Gamow-Teller part of the NME differs roughly by a factor of two between SM and EDF, when we restrict the calculations to spherical EDF states and seniority-zero SM configu…
We evaluate the leading-order short-range nuclear matrix element for the neutrinoless double-beta ($0νββ$) decay of the nuclei most relevant for experiments, including $^{76}$Ge, $^{100}$Mo, $^{130}$Te and $^{136}$Xe. In our calculations, performed with the nuclear shell model and proton-neutron quasiparticle random-phase approximation (pnQRPA) methods, we estimate the coupling of this term by the contact charge-independence-breaking coupling of various nuclear Hamiltonians. Our results suggest a significant impact of the short-range matrix element, which is about $15\%-50\%$ and $30\%-80\%$ o…
Experiments using nuclei to probe new physics beyond the Standard Model, such as neutrinoless $ββ$ decay searches testing whether neutrinos are their own antiparticle, and direct detection experiments aiming to identify the nature of dark matter, require accurate nuclear physics input for optimizing their discovery potential and for a correct interpretation of their results. This demands a detailed knowledge of the nuclear structure relevant for these processes. For instance, neutrinoless $ββ$ decay nuclear matrix elements are very sensitive to the nuclear correlations in the initial and final…
We study in this letter the behavior of the neutrinoless double beta decay nuclear matrix elements (NME's) in the framework of the Interacting Shell Model. We analize them in terms of the total angular momentum of the decaying neutron pair and as a function of the seniority truncations in the nuclear wave functions. This point of view turns out to be very adequate to gauge the accuracy of the NME's predicted by different nuclear structure models. In addition, it gives back the due protagonism in this process to the pairing interaction, the interaction which is responsible for the very existenc…
Half-life estimates for neutrinoless double beta decay depend on particle physics models for lepton flavor violation, as well as on nuclear physics models for the structure and transitions of candidate nuclei. Different models considered in the literature can be contrasted - via prospective data - with a "standard" scenario characterized by light Majorana neutrino exchange and by the quasiparticle random phase approximation, for which the theoretical covariance matrix has been recently estimated. We show that, assuming future half-life data in four promising nuclei (Ge-76, Se-82, Te-130, and X…
We study double gamma ($γγ$) decay nuclear matrix elements (NMEs) for a wide range of nuclei from titanium to xenon, and explore their relation to neutrinoless double-beta ($0νββ$) NMEs. To favor the comparison, we focus on double-magnetic dipole transitions in the final $ββ$ nuclei, in particular the $γγ$ decay of the double isobaric analog of the initial $ββ$ state into the ground state. For the decay with equal-energy photons, our large-scale nuclear shell model results show a good linear correlation between the $γγ$ and $0νββ$ NMEs. Our analysis reveals that the correlation holds for $γγ$ …
We decompose the neutrinoless double-beta decay matrix elements into sums of products over the intermediate nucleus with two less nucleons. We find that the sum is dominated by the J^pi=0^+ ground state of this intermediate nucleus for both the light and heavy neutrino decay processes. This provides a new theoretical tool for comparing and improving nuclear structure models. It also provides the connection to two-nucleon transfer experiments.
We calculate basis-space converged neutrinoless $ββ$ decay nuclear matrix elements for the lightest candidates: 48Ca, 76Ge and 82Se. Starting from initial two- and three-nucleon forces, we apply the ab initio in-medium similarity renormalization group to construct valence-space Hamiltonians and consistently transformed $ββ$-decay operators. We find that the tensor component is non-negligible in 76Ge and 82Se, and resulting nuclear matrix elements are overall 25-45% smaller than those obtained from the phenomenological shell model. While a final matrix element with uncertainties still requires …
We have developed a formalism, based on the Fourier-Bessel expansion, that facilitates the evaluation of matrix elements involving nucleon recoil operators, such as appear in serveral exotic forms of neutrinoless double beta decay ($ββ_{0ν}$). The method is illustrated by applying it to the ``charged'' majoron model, which is one of the few that can hope to produce an observable effect. From our numerical computations within the QRPA performed for $^{76}Ge$, $^{82}Se$, $^{100} Mo$, $^{128}Te$ and $^{150}Nd$ nuclei, we test the validity of approximations made in earlier work to simplify the new…
Results for neutrino flavor oscillations and neutrino mixing mechanisms, obtained from the analysis of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO), the SuperKamiokande (SK), CHOOZ, KamLAND and WMAP data, are used to calculate the effective neutrino mass relevant for the neutrinoless double-beta decay. The observability of the decay of 76Ge is discussed within different light-neutrino mass hierarchies and by presenting a systematics on the available nuclear matrix elements.
We investigate neutrinoless double-beta decay ($0νββ$) in the minimal extension of the standard model of particle physics, the $ν$SM, where gauge-singlet right-handed neutrinos give rise to Dirac and Majorana neutrino mass terms. We focus on the associated sterile neutrinos and argue that the usual evaluation of their contributions to $0νββ$, based on mass-dependent nuclear matrix elements, is missing important contributions from neutrinos with ultrasoft and hard momenta. We identify the hadronic and nuclear matrix elements that enter the new contributions, and calculate all relevant nuclear m…
The recently developed formalism for the evaluation of nuclear form factors in neutrinoless double beta decay is applied to $^{48}Ca$, $^{76}Ge$, $^{82}Se$, $^{100}Mo$, $^{128}Te$ and $^{130}Te$ nuclei. Explicit analytical expressions that follows from this theoretical development, in the single mode model for the decay of $^{48}Ca$, have been worked out. They are useful both for testing the full numerical calculations, and for analytically checking the consistency with other formalisms. Large configuration space calculations are compared with previous studies, where alternative formulations w…
Nuclear matrix elements (NMEs) for neutrinoless double beta decays (DBDs) are required for studying neutrino physics beyond the standard model by DBD. The experimental spin-dipole (SD) giant resonance energy and the SD strength are shown for the first time to be closely related to the DBD-NME, and are used for studying the spin-isospin correlation and the quenching of the axial-vector coupling. So they are used to help the theoretical model calculation of the DBD-NME.
Neutrinoless double-$β$ ($0νββ$) decay is related to many fundamental concepts in nuclear and particle physics beyond the standard model. Currently there are many experiments searching for this weak process. An accurate knowledge of the nuclear matrix element for the $0νββ$ decay is essential for determining the effective neutrino mass once this process is eventually measured. We report the first full relativistic description of the $0νββ$ decay matrix element based on a state-of-the-art nuclear structure model. We adopt the full relativistic transition operators which are derived with the cha…
We discuss a novel effect in neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay related with the fact that its underlying mechanisms take place in the nuclear matter environment. We study the neutrino exchange mechanism and demonstrate the possible impact of nuclear medium via Lepton Number Violating (LNV) 4-fermion interactions of neutrino with quarks from decaying nucleus. The net effect of these interactions is generation of an effective in-medium Majorana neutrino mass matrix. The enhanced rate of the 0νββ-decay can lead to the apparent incompatibility of observations of the 0νββ-decay with the value o…
The change in the configuration of valence protons between the initial and final states in the neutrinoless double-$β$ decay of $^{130}$Te $\rightarrow$ $^{130}$Xe and of $^{136}$Xe $\rightarrow$ $^{136}$Ba has been determined by measuring the cross sections of the ($d$,$^3$He) reaction with 101-MeV deuterons. Together with our recent determination of the relevant neutron configurations involved in the process, a quantitative comparison with the latest shell-model and interacting-boson-model calculations reveals significant discrepancies. These are the same calculations used to determine the n…
We report a systematic study of nuclear matrix elements (NMEs) in neutrinoless double-beta decays with a state-of-the-art beyond mean-field covariant density functional theory. The dynamic effects of particle-number and angular-momentum conservations as well as quadrupole shape fluctuations are taken into account with projections and generator coordinate method for both initial and final nuclei. The full relativistic transition operator is adopted to calculate the NMEs. The present systematic studies show that in most of the cases there is a much better agreement with the previous non-relativi…
We investigate a novel method of accurate calculation of the neutrinoless double-$β$ decay shell-model nuclear matrix elements for the experimentally relevant case of $^{76}$Ge. We demonstrate that with the new method the nuclear matrix elements have perfect convergence properties and, using only the first 100 intermediate states of each spin, the matrix elements can be calculated with better than 1% accuracy. Based on the analysis of neutrinoless double-beta decays of $^{48}$Ca, $^{82}$Se, and $^{76}$Ge isotopes, we propose a new method to estimate the optimal values of the average closure en…
In this article, we analyze some nuclear structure aspects of the neutrinoless double beta decay nuclear matrix elements (NME), in the framework of the Interacting Shell Model. We give results for the decays of 48Ca, 76Ge, 82Se, 124Sn, 128Te, 130Te, and 136Xe, using improved effective interactions and valence spaces. We examine the dependence of the NME's on the effective interaction and the valence space, and analyze the effects of the short range correlations and the finite size of the nucleon. Finally we study the influence of the deformation on the values of the NME's.
Neutrinoless double beta decay searches are currently among the major foci of experimental physics. The observation of such a decay will have important implications in our understanding of the intrinsic nature of neutrinos and shed light on the limitations of the Standard Model. The rate of this process depends on both the unknown neutrino effective mass and the nuclear matrix element associated with the given neutrinoless double-beta decay transition. The latter can only be provided by theoretical calculations, hence the need of accurate theoretical predictions of the nuclear matrix element f…
We report the results of a calculation of the nuclear matrix element of neutrinoless double-$β$ decay of $^{48}$Ca, carried out taking into account nucleon-nucleon correlations in both coordinate- and spin-space. Our numerical results, obtained using nuclear matter correlation functions, suggest that inclusion of correlations leads to a $\sim$ $20\%$ decrease of the matrix element, with respect to the shell model prediction. This conclusion is supported by the results of an independent calculation, in which correlation effects are taken into account using the spectroscopic factors of $^{48}$Ca…
Neutrinoless double-beta decay, if observed, would signal physics beyond the Standard Model that could be discovered at energies significantly lower than those at which the relevant degrees of freedom could be excited. Therefore, it could be challenging to further use the neutrinoless double-beta decay observations to distinguish between many beyond Standard Model mechanisms contributing to this process. Accurate nuclear structure calculations of the nuclear matrix elements necessary to analyze the decay rates could be helpful to narrow down the list of contributing mechanisms, and to better i…
We study neutrinoless double-beta decay in an effective field theory (EFT) for heavy nuclei, which are treated as a spherical core coupled to additional neutrons and/or protons. Since the low-energy constants of the EFT cannot be fitted to data for this unobserved decay, we follow an alternative strategy to constrain these through a correlation with double Gamow-Teller transitions. This correlation was recently found to hold for shell-model calculations, energy-density functionals, and other nuclear structure models. We therefore first calculate the nuclear matrix elements for double Gamow-Tel…
Theoretical estimates for the half life of neutrinoless double beta decay in candidate nuclei are affected by both particle and nuclear physics uncertainties, which may complicate the interpretation of decay signals or limits. We study such uncertainties and their degeneracies in the following context: three nuclei of great interest for large-scale experiments (76-Ge, 130-Te, 136-Xe), two representative particle physics mechanisms (light and heavy Majorana neutrino exchange), and a large set of nuclear matrix elements (NME), computed within the quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA). …
We present the nuclear matrix element for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{48}$Ca based on large-scale shell-model calculations including two harmonic oscillator shells ($sd$ and $pf$ shells). The excitation spectra of $^{48}$Ca and $^{48}$Ti, and the two-neutrino double-beta decay of $^{48}$Ca are reproduced in good agreement to experiment. We find that the neutrinoless double-beta decay nuclear matrix element is enhanced by about 30\% compared to $pf$-shell calculations. This reduces the decay lifetime by almost a factor of two. The matrix-element increase is mostly due to pairing co…
In this talk I will review the "state of the art" of the calculations of the nuclear matrix elements (NME) of the neutrinoless double beta decays for the nuclei 48Ca, 76Ge, 82Se, 124Sn, 128Te, 130Te and 136Xe in the framework of the Interacting Shell Model (ISM), and compare them with the NME's obtained using the Quasi-particle RPA approach (QRPA). I will also discuss the effect of the competition between the pairing and quadrupole correlations in the value of these NME's. In particular I will show that, as the difference in deformation between parent and grand daughter grows, the NME's of bot…
Neutrinoless double-beta decay is a forbidden, lepton-number-violating nuclear transition whose observation would have fundamental implications for neutrino physics, theories beyond the Standard Model and cosmology. In this review, we summarize the theoretical progress to understand this process, the expectations and implications under various particle physics models, as well as the nuclear physics challenges that affect the precise predictions of the decay half-life. We will also provide a synopsis of the current and future large-scale experiments that aim at discovering this process in physi…
A new generation of neutrinoless double beta decay experiments with improved sensitivity is currently under design and construction. They will probe inverted hierarchy region of the neutrino mass pattern. There is also a revived interest to the resonant neutrinoless double-electron capture, which has also a potential to probe lepton number conservation and to investigate the neutrino nature and mass scale. The primary concern are the nuclear matrix elements. Clearly, the accuracy of the determination of the effective Majorana neutrino mass from the measured 0νββ-decay half-life is mainly deter…
Employing four different parametrization of the pairing plus multipolar type of effective two-body interaction and three different parametrizations of Jastrow-type of short range correlations, the uncertainties in the nuclear transition matrix elements $M_{N}^{(0ν)}$ due to the exchange of heavy Majorana neutrino for the $0^{+}\rightarrow 0^{+}$ transition of neutrinoless double beta decay of $^{94}$Zr, $^{96}$Zr, $^{98}$Mo, $^{100}$Mo, $^{104}$Ru, $^{110}$Pd, $^{128,130}$Te and $^{150}$Nd isotopes in the PHFB model are estimated to be around 25%. Excluding the nuclear transition matrix elemen…
Neutrinoless double beta decay, which is a very old and yet elusive process, is reviewed. Its observation will signal that lepton number is not conserved and the neutrinos are Majorana particles. More importantly it is our best hope for determining the absolute neutrino mass scale at the level of a few tens of meV. To achieve the last goal certain hurdles have to be overcome involving particle, nuclear and experimental physics. Nuclear physics is important for extracting the useful information from the data. One must accurately evaluate the relevant nuclear matrix elements, a formidable task. …
The nuclear transition matrix elements $M^{(0ν)}$ for the neutrinoless double beta decay of $^{94,96}$Zr, $^{98,100}$Mo, $^{104}$Ru, $^{110}$Pd, $^{128,130}$Te and $^{150}$Nd isotopes in the case of $0^{+}\rightarrow 0^{+}$ transition are calculated using the PHFB wave functions, which are eigenvectors of four different parameterizations of a Hamiltonian with pairing plus multipolar effective two-body interaction. \QCOM{35}{In addition, the consideration of} Employing two (three) different parameterizations of Jastrow-type short range correlations, \QCOM{19}{provides us with} a set of eight (t…
We discuss the variation of the nuclear matrix element (NME) for the neutrinoless double beta ($0νββ$) decay of $^{76}$Ge when the wave functions are constrained to reproduce the experimental occupancies of the two nuclei involved in the transition. In the Interacting Shell Model description the value of the NME is enhanced about 15% compared to previous calculations, whereas in the QRPA the NME's are reduced by 20%-30%. This diminishes the discrepancies between both approaches. In addition, we discuss effect of the short range correlations on the NME in the light of the recently proposed para…
The discovery that neutrinos have finite rest mass has led to renewed interest in neutrinoless double beta decay. The development of large-scale experiments to search for neutrinoless double beta decay has increased the probability of a credible observation of the process in the near future. The reliability of calculations of the associated nuclear matrix elements is likely soon to become a critical issue. In this paper experimental techniques that access properties of the ground-state wave functions of double beta decay candidates, the occupancies of valence single- particle orbitals and pair…
In this article we analyze the nuclear matrix elements (NME) of the neutrinoless double beta decays of the nuclei 48-Ca, 76-Ge, 82-Se, 124-Sn, 130-Te and 136-Xe in the framework of the Interacting Shell Model (ISM). We study the relative value of the different contributions to them, such as higher order terms in the nuclear current, finite nuclear size effects and short range correlations, as well as their evolution with the maximum seniority permitted in the wave functions. We discuss also the build-up of the NME's as a function of the distance between the decaying neutrons. We calculate the …
We show that chiral effective field theory (EFT) two-body currents provide important contributions to the quenching of low-momentum-transfer Gamow-Teller transitions, and use chiral EFT to predict the momentum-transfer dependence that is probed in neutrinoless double-beta decay. We then calculate for the first time the neutrinoless double-beta decay operator based on chiral EFT currents and study the nuclear matrix elements at successive orders. The contributions from chiral two-body currents are significant and should be included in all calculations.
Nuclear weak decays provide important probes to fundamental symmetries in nature. A precise description of these processes in atomic nuclei requires comprehensive knowledge on both the strong and weak interactions in the nuclear medium and on the dynamics of quantum many-body systems. In particular, an observation of the hypothetical double beta decay without emission of neutrinos ($0νββ$) would unambiguously demonstrate the Majorana nature of neutrinos and the existence of the lepton-number-violation process. It would also provide unique information on the ordering and absolute scale of neutr…
We revisit the mechanism of neutrinoless double beta (NLDBD) decay mediated by the exchange with the heavy Majorana neutrino N of arbitrary mass mN, slightly mixed with the electron neutrino. By assuming the dominance of this mechanism, we update the well-known NLDBD-decay exclusion plot in the mass-mixing angle plane taking into account recent progress in the calculation of nuclear matrix elements within quasiparticle random phase approximation and improved experimental bounds on the NLDBD-decay half-life of Ge-76 and Xe-136. We also consider the known formula approximating the mN dependence …
As shown in Ref. \cite{Rod09}, the Fermi part $M_{F}^{0ν}$ of the total $0νββ$-decay nuclear matrix element $M^{0ν}$ can be related to the single Fermi transition matrix element between the isobaric analog state (IAS) of the ground state of the initial nucleus and the ground state of the final nucleus. The latter matrix element could be measured in charge-exchange reactions. Here we discuss a possibility of such a measurement for $^{48}$Ca and estimate the cross-section of the reaction $^{48}$Ti(n,p)$^{48}$Sc(IAS).
