Sprecher
Beschreibung
Atomic nuclei are ideal probes to test fundamental symmetries. For instance, nuclei are used as targets to detect dark matter particles, and electric dipole moments of nuclei can help to unveil why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe.
Nuclear $\beta\beta$ decays also play a paramount role in understanding the nature of neutrinos. If no neutrinos happen to be emitted in the decay, this would immediately imply that the neutrino and the antineutrino are the same particle, as proposed by Ettore Majorana in the early days of quantum field theory. Nonetheless, the rate of the Majorana $\beta\beta$ decays depend on nuclear matrix elements that need to be predicted by nuclear theory, as these decays have not been observed yet experimentally.
In this talk, I will present recent advancements on the calculation of the rates of Majorana $\beta\beta$ decays (or neutrinoless $\beta\beta$ decays) of the nuclei used in current experimental searches. I will emphasize on the estimation of the theoretical uncertainties in the calculations.