Bachelor thesis defense by Jakob Toft Hornum

Title: Prospects on detecting the cosmic neutrino background in via inverse beta-decay of tritium

Abstract:

The existence of the Cosmic Neutrino Background (CnuB) is a strong prediction of our standard cosmological model. Due to the feeble interaction of neutrinos with matter, its direct detection has so far eluded us. Future experiments, such as the PTOLEMY project, aim to detect the CnuB via the capture of relic neutrinos on tritium atoms and a precision measurement of the resulting electron spectrum. In this project, we investigate the expected signal depending on neutrino flavor mixing and mass ordering and the detection prospects of proposed experiments. We also investigate how non-standard cosmological models, e.g. neutrino decay over cosmological time scales, can reduce or enhance the discovery potential.