Eur. Phys. J. A (2017) 53: 153
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2017-12345-y

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

Precision electron-capture energy in ²⁰²Pb and its relevance for neutrino mass determination

¹ CERN, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland
² Technische Universität Dresden, 01069, Dresden, Germany
³ Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany
⁴ Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, 188300, Gatchina, St. Petersburg district, Russia
⁵ School of Physics & Astronomy, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK
⁶ KU Leuven, Instituut voor Kern- en Stralingsfysica, 3001, Leuven, Belgium
⁷ GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, 64291, Darmstadt, Germany
⁸ CSNSM-IN2P3-CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, 91406, Orsay, France
⁹ Physics Faculty of St. Petersburg State University, 198904, Peterhof, Russia
¹⁰ Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität, Institut für Physik, 17487, Greifswald, Germany
¹¹ ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Sydney, Australia

^* e-mail: andree.welker@cern.ch

Received: 19 February 2017
Accepted: 22 June 2017
Published online: 20 July 2017

Abstract

Within the framework of an extensive programme devoted to the search for alternative candidates for the neutrino mass determination, the atomic mass difference between ²⁰²Pb and ²⁰²Tl has been measured with the Penning trap mass spectrometer ISOLTRAP at the ISOLDE facility at CERN. The obtained value keV is three times more precise than the AME2012 value. While it will probably not lead to a replacement of ¹⁶³Ho in modern experiments on the determination of the electron-neutrino mass, the electron capture in ²⁰²Pb would however allow a determination of the electron-neutrino mass on the few-eV level using a cryogenic micro-calorimeter.