WIDG Seminar: Glenn Richardson, Yale, “Searching for the Majorana Nature of the Neutrino with nEXO"
One of the most intriguing puzzles in physics is the mechanism by which the neutrino derives its mass. A possible solution is given by a Majorana mechanism wherein the neutrino is its own anti-particle. If this were the case, the neutrino would be the first known fundamental particle to be Majorana, and could provide a pathway for leptogenisis as well as a possible explanation for our matter dominated universe. A simple and direct method to probe for this mass mechanism is by searching for the hypothetical decay process called neutrinoless double beta decay.