eprintid: 35551 rev_number: 15 eprint_status: archive userid: 8515 dir: disk0/00/03/55/51 datestamp: 2024-10-30 13:11:56 lastmod: 2024-11-04 13:43:29 status_changed: 2024-10-30 13:11:56 type: doctoralThesis metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Scholer, Oliver title: On the Implications of a Future Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Discovery subjects: ddc-530 divisions: i-130001 divisions: i-851340 adv_faculty: af-13 cterms_swd: Neutrinos cterms_swd: Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay cterms_swd: Lepton Number Violation cterms_swd: Effective Field Theories cterms_swd: Chiral EFT cterms_swd: Python Tools abstract: Neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) is the most promising experimental probe of lepton number violating (LNV) physics beyond the Standard Model. Its discovery may provide profound insights into the mechanism of neutrino mass generation as well as the observed baryon asymmetry of the universe. While the most simple interpretation of a 0νββ signal is in terms of a LNV Majorana neutrino mass term, other LNV mechanisms may provide the leading contribution to the 0νββ transition amplitude. Effective field theories (EFTs) are an efficient tool to describe and study the various LNV mechanisms of 0νββ in a model-independent way. In this work, we study the implications of a future 0νββ discovery by showcasing how different LNV mechanisms of 0νββ can be disentangled via measurements of the half-life and electron kinematics in various isotopes. By providing a proof-of-concept model that generates a non- trivial 0νββ half-life in a model with a lepton number conserving vacuum ground-state Lagrangian, we challenge the long-standing black-box theorem, which relates a 0νββ observation to the Majorana nature of neutrinos. This is achieved via the capture of a lepton number carrying scalar field from a dark background. Finally, we automated the applied EFT framework in the Python tool νDoBe and showcase example use-cases. date: 2024 id_scheme: DOI id_number: 10.11588/heidok.00035551 ppn_swb: 1907486054 own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-355518 date_accepted: 2024-10-16 advisor: HASH(0x55602a7f7ab8) language: eng bibsort: SCHOLEROLIONTHEIMPLI20241016 full_text_status: public place_of_pub: Heidelberg citation: Scholer, Oliver (2024) On the Implications of a Future Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Discovery. [Dissertation] document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/35551/1/Dissertation_Oliver_Scholer.pdf