Department of Physics
KATRIN: new result and future perspectives
Prof. Dr. Susanne Mertens, Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK) in Heidelberg
The absolute neutrino mass scale remains one of the most pressing open questions in astroparticle physics.
When?
June 27, 2025, 14:00-15:30
Where?
ZKS-Uhrturmhörsaal
S2|08, Raum 171
Hochschulstraße 4
64289 Darmstadt
Organiser
Fachbereich Physik
The most direct method to assess the absolute neutrino mass is through the kinematics of single beta decay, where the neutrino mass reveals itself as a tiny spectral distortion near the endpoint.
The KATRIN experiment is designed to probe this effect this by combining a high-intensity gaseous tritium source with a high-resolution spectrometer. Recently, KATRIN reported a new world-leading upper limit of m < 0.45 eV (90% CL), based on its first five measurement campaigns.
In 2026, following the completion of its neutrino mass data-taking phase, KATRIN will upgrade its beamline with a novel detector system known as TRISTAN. This detector will enable measurements of the full tritium beta-decay spectrum, opening the door to searches for keV-scale sterile neutrinos.
In this talk, I will present KATRIN’s latest results and outline its future prospects.
Tags
Physikalisches Kolloquium