# Analysis of first KATRIN data and searches for keV-scale sterile neutrinos

Huber, Anton

##### Abstract (englisch):
The phenomenon of neutrino oscillation stands in contradiction with the Standard Model of Particle Physics (SM) where neutrinos are formulated as massless particles. One way to introduce a non-zero neutrino mass to the SM is the so-called see-saw-mechanism. It adds at least one sterile neutrino to the particle framework. A sterile neutrino would not participate in any SM interaction, only interact gravitationally and would be of arbitrary mass-scale. These unique properties make a sterile neutrino an interesting Dark Matter candidate.

The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment aims to determine the effective electron anti-neutrino mass with a sensitvity of $0.2\, \mathrm{eV}/c^{2}$ (90 $\%$ C.L.) by observing the tritium $\beta$-decay close to its kinematic endpoint. Studies show that the experiment can be additionally extended to search for a sterile neutrino, for example on the keV mass-scale.

This thesis specifies how the KATRIN experiment can be operated to search for keV-scale sterile neutrinos without any significant hardware modifications. It presents a first comprehensive overview of all yet known systematic effects that occur in such a measurement. ... mehr

 Zugehörige Institution(en) am KIT Institut für Experimentelle Teilchenphysik (ETP)Institut für Astroteilchenphysik (IAP) Publikationstyp Hochschulschrift Publikationsdatum 12.01.2021 Sprache Englisch Identifikator KITopen-ID: 1000128344 Verlag Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) Umfang XI, 207 S. Art der Arbeit Dissertation Fakultät Fakultät für Physik (PHYSIK) Institut Institut für Experimentelle Teilchenphysik (ETP) Prüfungsdatum 10.07.2020 Referent/Betreuer Prof. G. Drexlin
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