Hosted by: Chun Shen

Next-generation neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments aim to discover lepton-number violation in order to shed light on the nature of neutrino masses. A non-zero signal would have profound implications by demonstrating the existence of elementary Majorana particles and possibly pointing towards a solution of matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. However, the interpretation of the experimental signal (or lack thereof) requires care. First of all, a single nonzero measurement would indicate lepton-number violation but will not identify the underlying source. Second, complicated hadronic and nuclear input is required to connect the experimental data to a fundamental description of lepton-number violation. In this talk, I will use effective field theories to connect neutrinoless double-beta decay measurements to the fundamental lepton-number-violating source.