Passive shielding in CUORE

Abstract

The nature of neutrino mass is one of the friontier problems of fundamental physics. Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay (0vDBD) is a powerful tool to investigate the mass hierarchy and possible extensions of the Standard Model. CUORE is a 1-Ton next generation experiment, made of 1000 Te bolometers, aiming at reaching a background of 0.01 (possibly 0.001) counts keV-1kg -1y-1 and therefore a mass sensitivity of few tens of meV. The background contribution due to environmental neutrons, muon-induced neutrons in the shieldings and external gamma is discussed. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.