The GERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) experiment searched for the lepton-number-violating neutrinoless double-β (0νββ) decay of 76Ge, whose discovery would have far-reaching implications in cosmology and particle physics. By operating bare germanium diodes, enriched in 76Ge, in an active liquid argon shield, GERDA achieved an unprecedently low background index of 5.2E−4 counts/(keV kg yr) in the signal region and met the design goal to collect an exposure of 100 kg yr in a background-free regime. When combined with the result of Phase I, no signal is observed after 127.2 kg yr of total exposure. A limit on the half-life of 0νββ decay in 76Ge is set at T1/2 > 1.8E26 yr at 90% C.L., which coincides with the sensitivity assuming no signal.

AGOSTINI M.;  ARAUJO G.R.;  BAKALYAROV A.M.;  BALATA M.;  BARABANOV I.;  BAUDIS L.;  BAUER C.;  BELLOTTI E.;  BELOGUROV S.;  BETTINI A.;  BEZRUKOV L.;  BIANCACCI V.;  BOROWICZ D.;  BOSSIO E.;  BOTHE V.;  BRUDANIN V.;  BRUGNERA R.;  CALDWELL A.;  CATTADORI C;  CHERNOGOROV A.;  COMELLATO T.;  D'ANDREA V.;  DEMIDOVA E.V.;  DI MARCO N.;  DOROSHKEVICH E.;  FISCHER F.;  FOMINA M.;  GANGAPSHEV A.;  GARFAGNINI A.;  GOOCH C.;  GRABMAYR P.;  GURENTSOV V.;  GUSEV K.;  HAKENMÜLLER J.;  HEMMER S.;  HILLER R.;  HOFMANN W.;  HUANG J.;  HULT Mikael;  INZHECHIK L.;  JANICSKO J.;  JOCHUM J.;  JUNKER M.;  KAZALOV V.;  KERMAÏDIC Y.;  KHUSHBAKHT H.;  KIHM T.;  KIRPICHNIKOV I;  KLIMENKO A.;  KNEISSL R.;  KNOEPFLE K.T.;  KOCHETOV O.;  KORNOUKHOV V.;  KRAUSE P.;  KUZMINOV V.;  LAUBENSTEIN M.;  LAZZARO A.;  LINDNER M.;  LIPPI I.;  LUBASHEVSKY A.;  LUBSANDORZHIEV B.;  LUTTER Guillaume;  MACOLINO C.;  MAJOROVITS B.;  MANESCHG W.;  MANZANILLAS L.;  MILORADOVIC M.;  MINGAZHEVA R.;  MISIASZEK M.;  MOSEEV P.;  MÜLLER Y.;  NEMCHENOK I.;  PANAS K.;  PANDOLA L.;  PELCZAR Krzysztof;  PERTOLDI L.;  PISERI P.;  PULLIA A.;  RANSOM C.;  RAUSCHER L.;  RIBOLDI S.;  RUMYANTSEVA N.;  SADA C.;  SALAMIDA F.;  SCHOENERT S.;  SCHREINER J.;  SCHÜTT M.;  SCHÜTZ A. K.;  SCHULZ O.;  SCHWARZ M.;  SCHWINGENHEUER B.;  SELIVANENKO O.;  SHEVCHIK E.;  SHIRCHENKO M.;  SHTEMBARI L.;  SIMGEN H.;  SMOLNIKOV A.;  STUKOV D.;  VASENKO A. A.;  VERESNIKOVA A.;  VIGNOLI C.;  VON STURM K.;  WESTER T.;  WIESINGER C.;  WOJCIK M.;  YANOVICH E.;  ZATSCHLER B.;  ZHITNIKOV I.;  ZHUKOV S. V.;  ZINATULINA D.;  ZSCHOCKE A.;  ZSIGMOND A. J.;  ZUBER K.;  ZUZEL G.; 

2021-04-08

AMER PHYSICAL SOC

JRC122622

0031-9007 (online),   

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.252502,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC122622,   

10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.252502 (online),