Speaker
Description
The search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0nubb) is the most sensitive known way to test for the Majorana nature of the neutrino. Observation of this process would confirm the neutrino to be its own antiparticle, a property with profound implications for particle physics and cosmology. If 0nubb it exists, however, it surely has a half life in excess of 10^26 yr, and perhaps even longer than 10^28 yr if the neutrino masses are normal-ordered. Detection of 0nubb thus represents be a formidable technological challenge, requiring ton-scale or larger detectors with ultra-low levels of background. In this talk I will review the past and present and experiments engaged in the quest to discover 0nubb in isotopes including 136Xe, 76Ge, 100Mo and 130Te, and discuss prospects for discovery by future planned experiments.
