The First JINR Prize 2020 in the Category “Experimental Research Works” Awarded to the GERDA Experiment Group
On 18−19 February 2021, at the 129th session of the JINR Scientific Council, annual JINR Prizes were awarded for the best scientific, methodological and technological applied works. The First Prize in the category “Experimental Research Works” went to the team of scientists from our Laboratory—the GERDA experiment group—for a series of papers “No-background search for the neutrinoless double beta decay of Ge-76 in the GERDA experiment” authored by K. N. Gusev, I. V. Zhitnikov, D. R. Zinatulina, A. A. Klimenko, A. V. Lubashevsky, N. S. Rumyantseva, A. A. Smolnikov, M. V. Fomina, E. A. Shevchik and M. V. Shirchenko.
Egor Shevchik, Igor Zhitnikov, Maria Fomina, Aleksey Lubashevsky, Konstantin Gusev, Alexander Klimenko, Nadezhda Rumyantseva, Mark Shirchenko, Dania Zinatulina | Credits: Igor Lapenko | DLNP JINR
The objective of the GERDA experiment is the search for the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) of Ge-76. If detected, this process with lepton number violation would directly demonstrate the Majorana nature of the neutrino (a neutrino is identical with an antineutrino) and unambiguously indicate New Physics beyond the Standard Model. The experimental facility is located in the Gran Sasso National Laboratory, Italy. Detectors of highly pure germanium enriched in the Ge-76 isotope and immersed into a cryostat with liquid argon are used in GERDA. Argon not only cools the detectors down to operation temperatures but also shields actively and passively against background radiation. Thanks to this innovative approach, the unprecedented low level of radiation background could be reached and the world’s best limit on the half-life of the neutrinoless double beta decay could be set in the GERDA experiment.
The JINR Prizes are awarded for outstanding experimental, methodological and applied works according to the JINR Topical Plan. These works should be at the cutting edge of modern science and completed in the current year. Annually, the JINR Directorate appoints the Jury of 11 people, JINR Directorate representatives and leading scientists, to review submitted papers. Decisions on awarding come into effect after approval by the JINR Scientific Council at its winter session.
Congratulations to our colleagues on this Prize! We wish you further success and new victories!
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