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DOE OSTI ¡ 3683764

First Results on the Search for Lepton Number Violating Neutrinoless Double-𝛽 Decay with the LEGEND-200 Experiment

Acharya, H. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000022198511)·Ackermann, N. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik]·Agostini, M. [University College London] (ORCID:0000000311515301)·Alexander, A. [University College London] (ORCID:0000000156081397)·Andreoiu, C. [Simon Fraser University] (ORCID:0000000201962792)·Araujo, G. R. [University of Zürich] (ORCID:0000000344560774)·Avignone, F. T. [University of South Carolina; Oak Ridge National Laboratory]·Babicz, M. [University of Zürich] (ORCID:0000000210175440)·Bae, W. [University of Texas at Austin] (ORCID:0000000276467577)·Bakalyarov, A. M. [National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”]·Balata, M. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0000000167456983)·Barabash, A. S. [National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”] (ORCID:0000000251300922)·Barbeau, P. S. [Duke University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000288918988)·Barton, C. J. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000246983765)·Baudis, L. [University of Zürich] (ORCID:0000000347101768)·Bauer, C. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik]·Bernieri, E. [Università degli Studi di Roma Tre; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000247872047)·Bezrukov, L. [Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences] (ORCID:0000000246058705)·Bhimani, K. H. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000336953164)·Biancacci, V. [Gran Sasso Science Institute; Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0000000213288950)·Blalock, E. [North Carolina State University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:000000015311371X)·Borden, S. J. [University of Washington] (ORCID:0009000325394333)·Borghi, G. [Politecnico di Milano; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000184884728)·Borra, F. [Università degli Studi di Roma Tre; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0009000507046380)·Bos, B. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000858281745)·Boston, A. [University of Liverpool] (ORCID:0000000264471608)·Bothe, V. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik] (ORCID:0000000216906929)·Bouabid, R. [Duke University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:000000017824357X)·Brugnera, R. [Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell’Università degli Studi di Padova; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000221153992)·Burlac, N. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0000000298776266)·Busch, M. [Duke University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000293363937)·Calgaro, S. [University of Zürich; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0009000168465213)·Canonica, L. [Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:000000018734206X)·Capra, S. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare; Università degli Studi di Milano] (ORCID:0000000233304145)·Carminati, M. [Politecnico di Milano; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000234854317)·Carney, R. M. D. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000156594440)·Cattadori, C. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000178856253)·Cesarano, R. [Gran Sasso Science Institute; Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0009000395081471)·Chan, Y.-D. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000374747326)·Chapman, J. R. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000498152981)·Chernogorov, A. [National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”] (ORCID:0000000337212165)·Chiu, P.-J. [University of Zürich] (ORCID:0000000237720090)·Christofferson, C. D. [South Dakota Mines] (ORCID:0009000518429352)·Clark, M. L. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000237408291)·Colon-Rivera, A. I. [Duke University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000506564688)·Comellato, T. [Technical University of Munich] (ORCID:0000000337805139)·D’Andrea, V. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000320374133)·Deckert, R. [Technical University of Munich] (ORCID:000900060431341X)·Detwiler, J. A. [University of Washington] (ORCID:0000000290504610)·Di Giacinto, A. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso]·Di Marco, N. [Gran Sasso Science Institute; Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0000000317237613)·Dixon, T. [University College London] (ORCID:0000000187876336)·Dong, K.-M. [University of South Dakota] (ORCID:0000000199459388)·Drobizhev, A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000472623028)·Duran, G. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:000900013047478X)·Efremenko, Yu. [University of Tennessee; Oak Ridge National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000251323112)·Elliott, S. R. [Los Alamos National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000193619870)·Emmanuel, C. H. J. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000242740376)·Engelhardt, E. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000486025424)·Esch, E. [University Tübingen] (ORCID:0009000049209313)·Febbraro, M. T. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000203472260)·Ferella, F. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0000000342643170)·Fields, D. E. [University of New Mexico] (ORCID:0000000264399351)·Fiorini, C. [Politecnico di Milano; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000211570143)·Fomina, M. [Joint Institute for Nuclear Research] (ORCID:0000000162449450)·Fuad, N. [Indiana University] (ORCID:0000000254452534)·Gala, R. [North Carolina State University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000193278228)·Galindo-Uribarri, A. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory] (ORCID:000000017450404X)·Gangapshev, A. [Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences] (ORCID:0000000260860569)·Garfagnini, A. [Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell’Università degli Studi di Padova; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000306581830)·Gazzana, S. [Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati] (ORCID:0000000155857106)·Geraci, A. [Politecnico di Milano; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000260843953)·Gessler, L. [University Tübingen] (ORCID:0009000197756917)·Ghiano, C. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0009000720385445)·Gieb, A. [Technical University of Munich; Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik] (ORCID:0009000513047734)·Giri, S. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000737501107)·Gold, M. [University of New Mexico] (ORCID:0000000273003160)·Gooch, C. [Max-Planck-Institut für Physik] (ORCID:0009000165965749)·Grünauer, G. [University Tübingen]·Green, M. P. [North Carolina State University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory; Oak Ridge National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000219588030)·Gruszko, J. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000237772237)·Guinn, I. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000224243272)·Guiseppe, V. E. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000200787101)·Gurentsov, V. [Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences] (ORCID:0009000076668435)·Gurov, Y. [Joint Institute for Nuclear Research] (ORCID:0000000286954555)·Gusev, K. [Technical University of Munich; Joint Institute for Nuclear Research] (ORCID:0000000204950551)·Hackett, B. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Max-Planck-Institut für Physik] (ORCID:0000000249092861)·Hagemann, F. [Max-Planck-Institut für Physik] (ORCID:0000000150213328)·Haranczyk, M. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso; Jagiellonian University] (ORCID:0000000238414108)·Henkes, F. [Technical University of Munich; Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik] (ORCID:0009000546256479)·Henning, R. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000186512960)·Herrera, J. [North Carolina State University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000606322395)·Hervas Aguilar, D. [Technical University of Munich] (ORCID:0000000296860659)·Hinton, J. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik] (ORCID:0000000210317760)·Hodák, R. [Czech Technical University in Prague]·Hoffmann, H. F. R. [Technische Universität Dresden] (ORCID:0009000431886569)·Howe, M. A. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000909239185)·Huber, M. [Technical University of Munich] (ORCID:0009000052122999)·Hult, M. [Joint Research Centre] (ORCID:0000000292486786)·Ianni, A. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0000000269623682)

Abstract

The LEGEND Collaboration is searching for neutrinoless double-beta (0⁢𝜈⁢𝛽⁢𝛽) decay by operating high-purity germanium detectors enriched in 76 Ge in a low-background liquid argon environment. Building on key technological innovations from the GERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) experiment and the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR experiment, LEGEND-200 has performed a first 0⁢𝜈⁢𝛽⁢𝛽 decay search based on 61.0 kg yr of data. Over half of this exposure comes from our highest performing detectors, including newly developed inverted-coaxial detectors, and is characterized by an estimated background level of 0.5$^{+0.3}_{−0.2}$ ⁢cts/(keV ton yr) in the 0⁢𝜈⁢𝛽⁢𝛽 decay signal region. A combined analysis of data from GERDA, the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR, and LEGEND-200, characterized by a 90% confidence level exclusion sensitivity of 2.8 ×10 26 yr on the half-life of 0⁢𝜈⁢𝛽⁢𝛽 decay, reveals no evidence for a signal and sets a new observed lower limit at 𝑇$^{⁢0𝜈}_{1/2}$ > 1.9 × 10 26 yr (90% confidence level). Assuming the decay is mediated by Majorana neutrinos, this corresponds to an upper limit on the effective Majorana mass in the range 𝑚 𝛽⁢𝛽 < 75–200 meV, depending on the adopted nuclear matrix element.

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BibTeXRIS

Acharya, H. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000022198511), Ackermann, N. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik], Agostini, M. [University College London] (ORCID:0000000311515301), Alexander, A. [University College London] (ORCID:0000000156081397), Andreoiu, C. [Simon Fraser University] (ORCID:0000000201962792), Araujo, G. R. [University of Zürich] (ORCID:0000000344560774), Avignone, F. T. [University of South Carolina; Oak Ridge National Laboratory], Babicz, M. [University of Zürich] (ORCID:0000000210175440), Bae, W. [University of Texas at Austin] (ORCID:0000000276467577), Bakalyarov, A. M. [National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”], Balata, M. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0000000167456983), Barabash, A. S. [National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”] (ORCID:0000000251300922), Barbeau, P. S. [Duke University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000288918988), Barton, C. J. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000246983765), Baudis, L. [University of Zürich] (ORCID:0000000347101768), Bauer, C. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik], Bernieri, E. [Università degli Studi di Roma Tre; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000247872047), Bezrukov, L. [Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences] (ORCID:0000000246058705), Bhimani, K. H. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000336953164), Biancacci, V. [Gran Sasso Science Institute; Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0000000213288950), Blalock, E. [North Carolina State University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:000000015311371X), Borden, S. J. [University of Washington] (ORCID:0009000325394333), Borghi, G. [Politecnico di Milano; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000184884728), Borra, F. [Università degli Studi di Roma Tre; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0009000507046380), Bos, B. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000858281745), Boston, A. [University of Liverpool] (ORCID:0000000264471608), Bothe, V. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik] (ORCID:0000000216906929), Bouabid, R. [Duke University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:000000017824357X), Brugnera, R. [Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell’Università degli Studi di Padova; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000221153992), Burlac, N. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0000000298776266), Busch, M. [Duke University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000293363937), Calgaro, S. [University of Zürich; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0009000168465213), Canonica, L. [Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:000000018734206X), Capra, S. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare; Università degli Studi di Milano] (ORCID:0000000233304145), Carminati, M. [Politecnico di Milano; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000234854317), Carney, R. M. D. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000156594440), Cattadori, C. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000178856253), Cesarano, R. [Gran Sasso Science Institute; Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0009000395081471), Chan, Y.-D. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000374747326), Chapman, J. R. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000498152981), Chernogorov, A. [National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”] (ORCID:0000000337212165), Chiu, P.-J. [University of Zürich] (ORCID:0000000237720090), Christofferson, C. D. [South Dakota Mines] (ORCID:0009000518429352), Clark, M. L. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000237408291), Colon-Rivera, A. I. [Duke University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000506564688), Comellato, T. [Technical University of Munich] (ORCID:0000000337805139), D’Andrea, V. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000320374133), Deckert, R. [Technical University of Munich] (ORCID:000900060431341X), Detwiler, J. A. [University of Washington] (ORCID:0000000290504610), Di Giacinto, A. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso], Di Marco, N. [Gran Sasso Science Institute; Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0000000317237613), Dixon, T. [University College London] (ORCID:0000000187876336), Dong, K.-M. [University of South Dakota] (ORCID:0000000199459388), Drobizhev, A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000472623028), Duran, G. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:000900013047478X), Efremenko, Yu. [University of Tennessee; Oak Ridge National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000251323112), Elliott, S. R. [Los Alamos National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000193619870), Emmanuel, C. H. J. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000242740376), Engelhardt, E. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000486025424), Esch, E. [University Tübingen] (ORCID:0009000049209313), Febbraro, M. T. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000203472260), Ferella, F. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0000000342643170), Fields, D. E. [University of New Mexico] (ORCID:0000000264399351), Fiorini, C. [Politecnico di Milano; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000211570143), Fomina, M. [Joint Institute for Nuclear Research] (ORCID:0000000162449450), Fuad, N. [Indiana University] (ORCID:0000000254452534), Gala, R. [North Carolina State University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000193278228), Galindo-Uribarri, A. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory] (ORCID:000000017450404X), Gangapshev, A. [Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences] (ORCID:0000000260860569), Garfagnini, A. [Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell’Università degli Studi di Padova; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000306581830), Gazzana, S. [Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati] (ORCID:0000000155857106), Geraci, A. [Politecnico di Milano; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare] (ORCID:0000000260843953), Gessler, L. [University Tübingen] (ORCID:0009000197756917), Ghiano, C. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0009000720385445), Gieb, A. [Technical University of Munich; Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik] (ORCID:0009000513047734), Giri, S. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000737501107), Gold, M. [University of New Mexico] (ORCID:0000000273003160), Gooch, C. [Max-Planck-Institut für Physik] (ORCID:0009000165965749), Grünauer, G. [University Tübingen], Green, M. P. [North Carolina State University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory; Oak Ridge National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000219588030), Gruszko, J. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000237772237), Guinn, I. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000224243272), Guiseppe, V. E. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000200787101), Gurentsov, V. [Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences] (ORCID:0009000076668435), Gurov, Y. [Joint Institute for Nuclear Research] (ORCID:0000000286954555), Gusev, K. [Technical University of Munich; Joint Institute for Nuclear Research] (ORCID:0000000204950551), Hackett, B. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Max-Planck-Institut für Physik] (ORCID:0000000249092861), Hagemann, F. [Max-Planck-Institut für Physik] (ORCID:0000000150213328), Haranczyk, M. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso; Jagiellonian University] (ORCID:0000000238414108), Henkes, F. [Technical University of Munich; Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik] (ORCID:0009000546256479), Henning, R. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000186512960), Herrera, J. [North Carolina State University; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000606322395), Hervas Aguilar, D. [Technical University of Munich] (ORCID:0000000296860659), Hinton, J. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik] (ORCID:0000000210317760), Hodák, R. [Czech Technical University in Prague], Hoffmann, H. F. R. [Technische Universität Dresden] (ORCID:0009000431886569), Howe, M. A. [University of North Carolina; Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory] (ORCID:0009000909239185), Huber, M. [Technical University of Munich] (ORCID:0009000052122999), Hult, M. [Joint Research Centre] (ORCID:0000000292486786), Ianni, A. [Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso] (ORCID:0000000269623682). 2026-01-16. First Results on the Search for Lepton Number Violating Neutrinoless Double-𝛽 Decay with the LEGEND-200 Experiment. https://doi.org/10.1103/25tk-nctn

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