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| CUORE experiment | |
|---|---|
| Name | CUORE |
| Caption | Cryogenic bolometer array for rare-event searches |
| Location | Gran Sasso National Laboratory |
| Status | Active |
| Started | 2017 |
| Parent institution | INFN |
| Participants | University of Milan, Sapienza University of Rome, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, University of Oxford, University of Zaragoza |
CUORE experiment
CUORE is a cryogenic bolometer array experiment searching for extremely rare processes in a low-background environment. Operating at millikelvin temperatures in an underground facility, it uses a tonne-scale array of tellurium oxide detectors to probe fundamental questions in particle physics, nuclear physics, and cosmology. The project involves international institutions from Europe and the Americas and builds on predecessor efforts in cryogenic rare-event detection.
CUORE is located at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory and deploys a large array of bolometric detectors composed of tellurium dioxide crystals. The experiment continues a lineage of low-temperature detector projects including MiDBD, CUORICINO, and developments in cryogenic sensor technology pioneered at institutions such as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley. Designed to operate at temperatures close to those achieved by dilution refrigerators developed in condensed matter programs, CUORE integrates expertise from collaborations associated with INFN, CERN, CERN-adjacent groups, and North American laboratories. The apparatus combines passive shielding techniques used by experiments like GERDA and EXO-200 with active material purification strategies reminiscent of SNO+ and KamLAND-Zen.
CUORE's primary scientific objective is the search for neutrinoless double beta decay in 130Te, which, if observed, would demonstrate the Majorana nature of neutrinos and violate lepton number conservation. This goal connects to theoretical frameworks explored by researchers at Institute for Nuclear Theory and Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and bears on parameters discussed in neutrino oscillation experiments such as Super-Kamiokande, SNO, Daya Bay, and T2K. Beyond neutrinoless double beta decay, CUORE can investigate rare nuclear decays, search for exotic particles and processes like axion emission considered in studies by CAST and ADMX, and provide inputs relevant to cosmological questions addressed by Planck (spacecraft), WMAP, and Large Hadron Collider phenomenology. Results influence global fits conducted by consortia including the Particle Data Group.
The detector comprises an array of nearly a thousand cubic crystals of TeO2 instrumented as bolometers, each read out by thermistors produced with techniques developed in low-temperature physics groups at University of Milano-Bicocca and Sapienza University of Rome. The design requires cryogenic systems derived from dilution refrigerators similar to those used in CUORICINO and in quantum computing research at MIT and IBM Research. Thermal sensors utilize neutron transmutation doped thermistors, a technology advanced in collaborations with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory. The experiment's low-background strategy adopts methods from GERDA and Majorana Demonstrator including radiopure materials procurement from suppliers with provenance tracking used in projects like XENON1T and LUX-ZEPLIN.
CUORE is hosted in Hall A of the Gran Sasso National Laboratory, situated beneath the Gran Sasso mountain to provide overburden shielding similar to that used by Borexino and OPERA. The underground location reduces cosmic-ray muon fluxes comparable to depths exploited by SNO and Kamioka Observatory. Supporting infrastructure includes cleanrooms modeled after those at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and radon-suppression systems akin to installations at SNOLAB. The cryostat and shielding assemblies were assembled with collaborations among INFN divisions and institutions experienced in large cryogenic projects such as ALICE and ATLAS.
CUORE's data acquisition system records tiny temperature rises from energy depositions in TeO2 crystals, using digitization and trigger logic influenced by readout systems from LHCb and CMS. Data pipelines implement noise reduction, pulse-shape discrimination, and energy calibration procedures comparable to those developed for EXO-200 and CUORICINO. Analysis frameworks integrate statistical techniques and limit-setting methods used by collaborations like Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope teams and employ global analysis tools similar to those used in Global Neutrino Analysis efforts. Background models draw on material assay programs analogous to those at SNOLAB and Purdue University assay facilities.
CUORE has published results setting competitive limits on the half-life of neutrinoless double beta decay in 130Te, complementing constraints from GERDA, Majorana Demonstrator, and KamLAND-Zen. Peer-reviewed articles and conference presentations have appeared in venues frequented by researchers from Physical Review Letters, Physical Review C, Journal of High Energy Physics, and conferences such as Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics Conference and International Conference on Low Temperature Physics. The collaboration's datasets have also been used for searches for rare processes and for validation studies relevant to next-generation experiments like nEXO and LEGEND.
CUORE is an international collaboration coordinated by INFN and comprising universities and laboratories including University of Milan, Sapienza University of Rome, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, Yale University, University of Oxford, and University of Zaragoza. The governance structure follows models similar to those of large collaborations such as ATLAS and CMS, with working groups for detector operations, calibration, analysis, and publications. Funding and oversight involve agencies like National Science Foundation, Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, and regional European research bodies analogous to European Research Council support mechanisms.
Category:Particle physics experiments Category:Underground laboratories Category:Neutrino experiments