The first ever search for neutrinoless quadruple beta decay

Abstract

In some models beyond the Standard Model where lepton number violation by two units is forbidden (implying neutrinos cannot be Majorana fermions), violation by four units can still occur, allowing neutrinoless quadruple beta decay. The isotope 150-Nd is one of the very few isotopes where this process could be experimentally observed. The experimental signature consists of four electrons with a total energy equal to the Q-value of the decay. The NEMO-3 experiment in the Modane Underground Laboratory in France ran from 2003 to 2011, and studied seven isotopes of interest including 150-Nd. This article describes the result of the first experimental search for neutrinoless quadruple beta decay using the entire NEMO-3 data set for 36.5 g of 150-Nd with 5.25 years of data. No evidence is found of this decay, and lower limits at the 90% CL on the half-life are set in the range (1.1 - 3.2) $\times 10^{21}$ years