https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-7718-z
Regular Article - Experimental Physics
First operation of the KATRIN experiment with tritium
1
Institute for Technical Physics (ITEP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
2
Institute for Nuclear Physics (IKP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
3
Technische Universität München, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
4
IRFU (DPhP & APC), CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
5
Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Nussallee 14-16, 53115, Bonn, Germany
6
Institute of Experimental Particle Physics (ETP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Wolfgang-Gaede-Str. 1, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany
7
Laboratory for Nuclear Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
8
Institute for Data Processing and Electronics (IPE), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
9
Institute for Nuclear Research of Russian Academy of Sciences, 60th October Anniversary Prospect 7a, 117312, Moscow, Russia
10
Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany
11
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, Föhringer Ring 6, 80805, Munich, Germany
12
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
13
Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
14
Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Wuppertal, Gaußstr. 20, 42119, Wuppertal, Germany
15
Departamento de Química Física Aplicada, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain
16
Department of Physics, Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
17
Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS, v. v. i., 250 68, Řež, Czech Republic
18
Institut für Kernphysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 9, 48149, Münster, Germany
19
Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
20
Institute for Nuclear and Particle Astrophysics and Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
21
University of Applied Sciences (HFD) Fulda, Leipziger Str. 123, 36037, Fulda, Germany
22
Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
23
Institut für Physik, Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099, Mainz, Germany
24
Institut für Physik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Newtonstr. 15, 12489, Berlin, Germany
25
Project, Process, and Quality Management (PPQ), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
26
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
* e-mail: mertens@mpp.mpg.de
** e-mail: magnus.schloesser@kit.edu
Received:
12
September
2019
Accepted:
6
February
2020
Published online:
23
March
2020
The determination of the neutrino mass is one of the major challenges in astroparticle physics today. Direct neutrino mass experiments, based solely on the kinematics of 
-decay, provide a largely model-independent probe to the neutrino mass scale. The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment is designed to directly measure the effective electron antineutrino mass with a sensitivity of 
(
CL). In this work we report on the first operation of KATRIN with tritium which took place in 2018. During this commissioning phase of the tritium circulation system, excellent agreement of the theoretical prediction with the recorded spectra was found and stable conditions over a time period of 13 days could be established. These results are an essential prerequisite for the subsequent neutrino mass measurements with KATRIN in 2019.
© The Author(s), 2020
