Search for the Majorana Nature of Neutrinos in the Inverted Mass Ordering Region with KamLAND-Zen

The KamLAND-Zen experiment has provided stringent constraints on the neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ) decay half-life in ^{136}Xe using a xenon-loaded liquid scintillator. We report an improved search using an upgraded detector with almost double the amount of xenon and an ultralow radioactivity container, corresponding to an exposure of 970 kg yr of ^{136}Xe. These new data provide valuable insight into backgrounds, especially from cosmic muon spallation of xenon, and have required the use of novel background rejection techniques. We obtain a lower limit for the 0νββ decay half-life of T_{1/2}^{0ν}>2.3×10^{26}  yr at 90% C.L., corresponding to upper limits on the effective Majorana neutrino mass of 36-156 meV using commonly adopted nuclear matrix element calculations.

Prospects for the Detection of the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background with the Experiments SK-Gd and JUNO

The advent of gadolinium-loaded Super-Kamiokande (SK-Gd) and of the soon-to-start JUNO liquid scintillator detector marks a substantial improvement in global sensitivity for the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background (DSNB). The present article reviews the detector properties most relevant for the DSNB searches in both experiments and estimates the expected signal and background levels. Based on these inputs, we evaluate the sensitivity of both experiments individually and combined. Using a simplified statistical approach, we find that both SK-Gd and JUNO have the potential to reach >3σ evidence of the DSNB signal within 10 years of measurement. Combination of their results is likely to enable a 5σ discovery of the DSNB signal within the next decade.

DUNE as the Next-Generation Solar Neutrino Experiment

We show that the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), with significant but feasible new efforts, has the potential to deliver world-leading results in solar neutrinos. With a 100  kton-yr exposure, DUNE could detect ≳10^{5} signal events above 5 MeV electron energy. Separate precision measurements of neutrino-mixing parameters and the ^{8}B flux could be made using two detection channels (ν_{e}+^{40}Ar and ν_{e,μ,τ}+e^{-}) and the day-night effect (>10σ). New particle physics may be revealed through the comparison of solar neutrinos (with matter effects) and reactor neutrinos (without), which is discrepant by ∼2σ (and could become 5.6σ). New astrophysics may be revealed through the most precise measurement of the ^{8}B flux (to 2.5%) and the first detection of the hep flux (to 11%). DUNE is required: No other experiment, even proposed, has been shown capable of fully realizing these discovery opportunities.

Echo Technique to Distinguish Flavors of Astrophysical Neutrinos

The flavor composition of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos is a rich observable. However, present analyses cannot effectively distinguish particle showers induced by ν_{e} vs ν_{τ}. We show that this can be accomplished by measuring the intensities of the delayed, collective light emission from muon decays and neutron captures, which are, on average, greater for ν_{τ} than for ν_{e}. This new technique would significantly improve tests of the nature of astrophysical sources and of neutrino properties. We discuss the promising prospects for implementing it in IceCube and other detectors.