학술논문

Towards precise and accurate calculations of neutrinoless double-beta decay
Document Type
article
Source
Journal of Physics G Nuclear and Particle Physics. 49(12)
Subject
neutrinoless double-beta decay
effective field theory
lattice quantum chromodynamics
ab initio nuclear-structure theory
Bayesian uncertainty quantification
Bayesian model mixing
Atomic
Molecular
Nuclear
Particle and Plasma Physics
Nuclear & Particles Physics
Language
Abstract
We present the results of a National Science Foundation Project Scoping Workshop, the purpose of which was to assess the current status of calculations for the nuclear matrix elements governing neutrinoless double-beta decay and determine if more work on them is required. After reviewing important recent progress in the application of effective field theory, lattice quantum chromodynamics, and ab initio nuclear-structure theory to double-beta decay, we discuss the state of the art in nuclear-physics uncertainty quantification and then construct a roadmap for work in all these areas to fully complement the increasingly sensitive experiments in operation and under development. The roadmap includes specific projects in theoretical and computational physics as well as the use of Bayesian methods to quantify both intra- and inter-model uncertainties. The goal of this ambitious program is a set of accurate and precise matrix elements, in all nuclei of interest to experimentalists, delivered together with carefully assessed uncertainties. Such calculations will allow crisp conclusions from the observation or non-observation of neutrinoless double-beta decay, no matter what new physics is at play.