Measurement of the double-beta decay half-life of Nd-150 and search for neutrinoless decay modes with the NEMO-3 detector (Art. No. 032501)
2009
Abstract
The half-life for double-beta decay of Nd-150 has been measured by the NEMO-3 experiment at the Modane Underground Laboratory. Using 924.7 days of data recorded with 36.55 g of Nd-150, we measured the half-life for 2 nu beta beta decay to be T-1/2(2 nu) = (9.11(-0.22)( 0.25)(stat.) /- 0.63(syst.)) x 10(18) yr.
The observed limit on the half-life for neutrinoless double-beta decay is found to be T-1/2(0 nu) } 1.8 x 10(22) yr at 90% confidence level. This translates into a limit on the effective Majorana neutrino mass of { m(nu)} { 4.0-6.3 eV if the nuclear deformation is taken into account.
We also set limits on models involving Majoron emission, right-handed currents, and transitions to excited states