Speaker
Description
The search for neutrinoless double-beta decay represents one of the most exciting
opportunities to explore physics beyond the Standard Model. The knowledge that
neutrinos are massive particles, yet, with masses that are many orders of magnitude
smaller than those of charged fermions, provides encouragement to further push
the sensitivity of these experiments.
nEXO is a 5-tonne detector based on the isotope 136Xe in a single phase, liquid
time projection chamber. Its design is based on EXO-200, the first 100kg-class
experiment to take data, demonstrating the power of a monolithic detector with
good energy resolution and superior topological event reconstruction. nEXO is
expected to reach a half-life sensitivity of about 10^28 years, covering substantial
discovery space. The detector includes several state-of-the-art components but,
at the same time, offers a conservative approach in which the background estimate
is solidly grounded on existing materials and reliable simulation tools. In this talk
the nEXO design and sensitivity reach will be discussed.
