Experimental challenges and construction status of the NUMEN Project

Pierroutsakou, D.; Acosta, L.; Added, N.; Agodi, C.; Aguiar, V. A. P.; Amador-Valenzuela, P.; Anastasio, A.; Auerbach, N.; Avanzi, L. H.; Ayyad, Y.; Babu, R.; Babu, Y.; Bijker, R.; Boiano, A.; Boztosun, I.; Brasolin, S.; Brischetto, G. A.; Bussa, M. P.; Calvo, D.; Cappuzzello, F.; Carbone, D.; Cardozo, E. N.; Castro, G.; Cavallaro, M.; Challa, K.; Chávez Lomeli, E. R.; Chinaglia, E. F.; Ciraldo, I.; Colonna, M.; Comite, A.; Cortesi, M.; Costa, K. M.; D'Agostino, G.; Dapo, H.; De Benedictis, C.; De Gregorio, G.; Donaldson, L. M.; Dumitrache, F.; Huerta Hernandez, A.; Gambacurta, D.; Gandolfo, E. M.; Garcia-Tecocoatzi, H.; Gargano, A.; Garofalo, C.; Giovannini, M.; Gleason, R.; Hacisalihoglu, A.; Ferraresi, C.; Ferreira, J. L.; Izzo, V.; Koulouris, S.; Kucuk, Y.; Khumalo, T. C.; La Fauci, L.; Lay, J. A.; Lenske, H.; Linares, R.; Lombardo, C.; López González, J. M.; Lubian, J.; Marin-Lámbarri, D. J.; Mas-Ruiz, J.; Masunaga, S. H.; Medina, N. H.; Moralles, M.; Neri, L.; Neveling, R.; Nguyen, Thang; Oliveira, J. R. B.; Pakou, A.; Palli, K.; Pandalone, A.; Pandola, L.; Panero, R.; Paterna, M.; Pietralla, N.; Pitronaci, A.; Pellegri, L.; Persiani, R.; Petrascu, H.; Rovelli, A.; Russo, A. D.; Sandoval-Hipólito, S.; Santarelli, T. M.; Santopinto, E.; Santos, R. B. B.; Sartirana, D.; Schervenin, J. V.; Sgouros, O.; Solakci, S. O.; Soukeras, V.; Souliotis, G.; Spatafora, A.; Torresi, D.; Urazbekov, B.; Valencia, C.; Valinotto, I.; Vanzanella, A.; Vsevolodovna, R. I. M.; Yildirim, A.; Zagatto, V. A. B.

doi:10.1393/ncc/i2026-26122-4

The NUMEN (NUclear Matrix Elements for Neutrinoless double beta decay) project at INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Sud aims to investigate the Nuclear Matrix Elements that govern neutrinoless double beta decay. The strategy is based on measuring double charge exchange reactions with intense heavy-ion beams on candidate isotopes. To cope with the extremely low cross sections, the LNS facility has been upgraded to provide beams up to 1013 pps. A new target system and high-performance detectors for the MAGNEX spectrometer are under development, capable of sustaining ion rates of 5x10(6) Hz and allowing simultaneous gamma-ray detection. This work provides a status update on the construction of the NUMEN apparatus, discussing recent progress and key experimental challenges.