| Project Detail |
Improved search for sterile neutrinos
Dark matter refers to any substance that interacts predominantly via gravity with visible matter, including the stars and planets. The substance accounts for approximately 85 % of the matter in the universe and about a quarter of its total energy density. Sterile neutrinos with mass in the kilo-electronvolt (keV) regime are prime candidates for dark matter. The EU-funded SENSE project aims to probe the existence of eV–keV sterile neutrinos in a laboratory-based experiment with world-leading sensitivity. At the heart of the search is high-precision beta spectroscopy. The novel idea is to develop a beyond-the-state-of-the-art silicon-drift-detector system, which, combined with the large-scale Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (Katrin) experiment, will open the window to sterile neutrino signals not accessible elsewhere. |
