Apr 13 – 16, 2026
KIT Campus South
Europe/Berlin timezone

Sensitivities beyond KATRIN: first steps towards a next-generation neutrino mass experiment

Apr 13, 2026, 5:27 PM
2m
Gaede Foyer (KIT Campus South)

Gaede Foyer

KIT Campus South

2nd floor (in front of Gaede-Lecture theater) Physikflachbau Building 30.22 Engesserstraße 7 76131 Karlsruhe
Poster Posters

Speakers

Chloe Goupy (MPIK) Neven Kovac (Institute for Astroparticle Physics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) Svenja Heyns

Description

After completing 1000 days of data taking at the KATRIN experiment, the collaboration expects to reach a final sensitivity on the effective electron neutrino mass below 300 meV. However, from the neutrino oscillation experiments, we know that neutrino mass can be as low as 50 meV or 9 meV, depending on the mass ordering. Taking the next step in direct neutrino-mass searches includes probing the region of inverted mass hierarchy, which requires substantial increase in statistics, improvement in energy resolution, and background suppression.

Within the framework of KATRIN++, several novel experimental concepts are being investigated to extend the sensitivity of such a next-generation experiment.
The two key strategies we're focussing on are:
(1) implementation of differential detection techniques with sub-eV energy resolution, such as quantum-sensor-based detector arrays or time-of-flight spectroscopy, and
(2) development of a high-luminosity atomic tritium source.

The combination of these approaches would allow for high statistics to be acquired quickly and with ultra-high energy resolution. In this poster presentation, we show the sensitivity of such an experiment and investigate the technological requirements and fundamental physics limitations for pushing the neutrino mass limits below the inverted mass ordering regime.

Collaboration or Other Affiliation KATRIN

Authors

Chloe Goupy (MPIK) Dr Magnus Schlösser (Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe - Institute of Astroparticle Physics) Neven Kovac (Institute for Astroparticle Physics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) Susanne Mertens (Max Planck Institute for Physics) Svenja Heyns

Presentation materials