Bela Majorovits
(Max Planck Institute Munich)

The GERDA experiment for the search of neutrinoless double beta-decay: Phase I results and status of Phase II

Neutrinoless double beta (0vbb) decay is a Lepton number violating process. If neutrinos are Majorana particles, as predicted by many models explaining the baryon asymmetry of the universe, 0vbb decay should be observable in some isotopes, amongst them 76Ge. The GERDA experiment for the search of 0vbb decay will be described. After 1.5 years of measurements the first phase of the experiment was finished in 2013. The most important results obtained will be presented. Phase II of the experiment has just started data taking late 2015. The hardware changes with respect to Phase I will be presented. First results from commissioning runs in 2015 will be shown. Prospects for data taking will be given.