Speaker
Description
Project 8 seeks to directly measure the electron-weighted neutrino mass using cyclotron radiation emission spectroscopy (CRES). Using this technique, the kinetic energy of magnetically-trapped $\beta$-electrons from tritium sources can be inferred by observing their cyclotron frequency, measuring the endpoint spectrum with high precision. Following the successful demonstration of CRES with waveguides, the upcoming phase of Project 8 will demonstrate the first realization of cavity-based CRES using Cavity CRES Apparatus (CCA) for enabling scalability to larger volumes. A cubic-meter scale apparatus called Low-Frequency Apparatus (LFA) is being designed to increase statistics and achieve sub-eV mass sensitivity, while also addressing remaining technical risks on the path to reaching the final sensitivity goal of 40 meV. This talk will give a brief overview of the Project 8 experiment, present recent advances in CCA instrumentation and the design progress of LFA.
This work is supported by the US DOE Office of Nuclear Physics, the US NSF, the PRISMA+ Cluster of Excellence at the University of Mainz, and internal investments at all institutions.